Aquarion: Chain of Fated Memories
by KadoyaOkami
Summary: Inspired by "The Interference" and ngrey651: Just as a new cycle begins, a fan from our world finds himself in Aquarion Evol! He now has the power to change the story greatly, but what other mysteries will he have to solve? (RE-WRITE IN PROGRESS!)
1. Debut of a New W, part 1

**Aquarion: Chain of Fated Memories**

_Chapter 1: Debut of New W/Legend Beginning Again_

**_Author's Note: Hello, everyone! KadoyaOkami here! Just to let everyone know, as of now I am considering doing a re-haul of all my stories, because as of now I find them...kinda lacking in plenty of spaces. Thus, first things first, this fic is getting an edited chapter! So, to everyone reading, I'm sorry for so long a hiatus! But don't worry, everything's going to be smooth sailing! (I hope!)_**

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><p>Within the depths of slumber, something - or some<em>one<em> - drifted through an endless sea of seemingly disconnected images.

Armored heroes fighting twisted monsters, friends and loved ones coming and going, greater powers either saving or threatening the world - time and again, the same kind of struggles, losses, and triumphs played out before the presence. And yet, the presence couldn't help but wonder...

Why were these images here? What did they really mean to it? And moreover...

Who was it?

_**A young man who has proven himself, time and again, to brave the greatest perils in order to seek out the truth without being lost to falsehoods and corruption.**_

The presence whirled about, looking for the new voice.

_**Do not fret, young one. Your time is still far from now - you've already earned more than enough for even one lifetime, let alone three.**_

_Three_ lifetimes?...

_**This story may not seem so clear to you now, but fear not; All stories are never truly so simple and clean at first glance. But that is why you're here.**_

Wait! the presence cried out, What do you mean?

_**I mean this: You can help show all of these people what you've seen throughout these limitless tales right before you.**_

And that is...?

_**That no matter what the day and dangers, there will always be good and truth in the world...and that it will always be worth fighting for.**_

_****_And then the entity knew no more.

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><p>An alarm-clock blared to life, knocking a poor 16-year-old boy right out of his bed in the comfort of his room. Known as Alexander Yuuki Grey by the people that had daily interactions with him, the Japanese-American could only grumble "still too early" to himself. He NEVER woke up when he had the opportunity to sleep in – that was how he always did things on free days. ...Not that that dream helped any.<p>

As soon as that thought came, though, what sounded like several ship horns broke the silence around Alex. Immediately, he was on edge – his family didn't live in a coastal city!

"Waitaminute," Alex caught himself – just in time for him to actually take notice of his surroundings. Now that he got a good enough look, he knew for a fact that this was NOT his usual bedroom.

For one thing, he was in what appeared to be some sort of attic – the books stacked on old chairs, the cabinets surrounding both ends of his bed, the window that his room faced, and the somewhat Romantic-era feel to it tipped him off. Now utterly curious, Alex chanced a look outside the glass – and was instantly shocked.

All around him, something that looked like a fantasy/science fiction mash-up of Venice greeted him, the only forms of solid ground being the few bridges and walkways that dotted the streets, not to mention the mountaintops in the distance. What really struck him, though, was the giant wind-generator tower flanked by the mountains, which gave an all-too-familiar image to the boy.

Of the many quirks that made Alex a unique individual, his love for stories – reading, viewing, playing, or even making them – was a significant part of his being. Most of his childhood revolved around a gamut of characters, from the Kamen Riders and Super Robots of the Rising Sun to the various superheroes of the American fields of fiction. Combining his natural intellect and curiosity together with basic 'Otaku-ness', and the end result was somebody like Alex.

All of that, ironically enough, worked out for him, though, because even though most of the cityscape was new to him, the tower was impossible for him not to recognize.

"Is that Fuuto Tower? What the heck is it doing in Venice?" Alex wondered aloud, grasping his head of orange hair- wait, ORANGE?

"What the HELL?" summarized Alex's reaction nicely, seeing as how he noticed how his body changed. Frantically looking for a mirror, Alex took a glance at his reflection and received the surprise of his life.

Normally, Alexander had somewhat messy black hair that never got past his ears, brownish-yellow eyes, and a casual home outfit consisting of black, blue, or gray shorts and a variety of tee-shirts listing most of his passions. Looking at himself now, though, Alex had orange locks in anime spikes along with amethyst eyes, an actual ahoge, and an outfit consisting of what looked like a red military-vest and weighted combat boots that reached up to below his knees, complimenting his black shirt of the Transformers series and grey shorts from yesterday.

'_Now that I think about it, what _did_ happen that got me here?_' Alex thought, trying to scrounge his memories for any clue that would assist him. Thinking as far back as he could, Alex remembered two distinct memories – one, he had just reached the point in the Kamen Rider Double series where the Gaia Impact had been averted, at the cost of Philip losing his physical form (Essentially, dying). Also, he remembered reading new information about the Kingdom Hearts series, anxiously awaiting the American release of the newest game. After that, though, Alex was immediately drawn into another set of memories – that (he was sure) were NOT his own.

The first memory he viewed was of this person - Amata Sora, as he learned - during his earlier years, suddenly levitating amongst many other kids, all of them gaping in apparent terror at his power – and the ethereal wings that sprouted from the sides of his ankles! _'Why in the world does this seem so damn familiar?'_ Alex thought as he jumped to another memory – this time, it was Amata crying as he desperately tried to rip off the wings on his feet, as though he were trying to deny the truth.

All throughout, Amata's voice – fluctuating between his younger self and present self – had been constantly saying things like _"No, don't be scared!"_ _"Please, just go away, you stupid wings!"_ and many other phrases, all expressing his despair.

The last memory, though, really put Alex in for a loop: Amata had fallen to his knees in what seemed like some strange graveyard, watching as an amethyst-haired young woman in what could have been regal clothes floated into a ray of light – and leaving Amata behind, despite his cries for her not to.

And that was before Alex started seeing memories that weren't his _or_ Amata's – a gigantic stained-glass crystal bursting apart, myriad lights falling from a twilight sky, and thousands of armored giants tearing each other apart in a canyon filled with fallen weapons.. As though he weren't freaked out enough, all of them looked at him and said this;

"_**We are watching you, new bearer of Memory, and waiting for the day you can break Fate**_"

And just like that, Alex stumbled onto the floor, grabbing his forehead as he reeled from the massive influx of information. Sure, he now knew who he had become - or, maybe, _was_ - but what _was_ this place? And more importantly, just what was he supposed to interfere with?

Pushing all that aside, though, was another alarm – this time, it was Alex - _Amata's_ Smartphone, which told him that there was just one more hour before work started!

"CRAP! I'm gonna be late!" Alex yelled in desperation, although he knew little about the city that had become his new home. For one thing, though, he knew for a fact that it was unwise to do anything blatantly out of the ordinary just because of an inconvenience – what better way to blow your cover than miss your only means of livelihood?

Forgoing the usual breakfast routine, Alex – err, _Amata_ quickly showered before redressing himself, then bolted out of his room. The fact that he seemed to be the only one in the building at all didn't fly by him, but he shelved the thought as just plain convenience. With that, Amata bolted out of the apartment complex and into the city.

Luckily for him – '_Another break from reality, but what do I have to complain about_?' Amata mused – his Smartphone (equivalent) had a GPS in hand to refresh his memories of the city layout, so he knew just where to go and what routes were the quickest.

Under normal circumstances, Amata would've stayed firmly on the ground, both to avoid attention and stay cautious. Since everything now was anything _but_ normal, he entertained the idea that he envied for most of his childhood.

He might not be able to fly of his own free will, but he could certainly platform just as well!

Making absolutely sure that nobody would notice him and call the authorities, Amata experimentally jumped as far and as high as he could – and, much to his glee and half-surprise, he jumped a good five feet onto the nearest wall!

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Amata laughed as he scrambled up the sides of the building, letting every bit of knowledge from the many action-adventure games he had played flow into his mind. Every nook and cranny that could bring him up further, he took to with zeal! This continued for no more than two minutes before he launched up onto the roof, pausing to recover his breath.

For all intents and purposes, this new city looked _priceless_ when it came to scenery – all the more so when one looked at it from a high enough vantage point.

Taking in the image before he captured it on his phone, Amata then resumed his trek towards work – setting himself up, he then sprinted towards the edge of the roof, soaring over the gap between it and the next building. Time seemed to slow down, but Amata didn't care too badly. He was still able to make it to work.

The fact that he was able to do something only the most accomplished of parkour practitioners could do with years of experience at best was pushed back to a corner of his mind - shelved, yes, but not forgotten. And certainly not unquestioned.

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><p>'Work', however, underwhelmed Amata as he walked forward, with a quarter hour to spare. It certainly wasn't as grand as a high-school setting, or as mundane as an office of some sort. No, it had to strike the really weird ground between elegance and normalcy.<p>

Of all the places his new self could have earned a living, it was an (_possibly)_ old MOVIE THEATER!

"You have GOT to be kidding me." Amata let out as he entered the theater proper. It just didn't make sense! There could've been thousands of popular places to have entertaining and nicely-paying careers! Why on Earth would he work HERE of all things?

"Oh! You're here early, Amata-kun!" an elder voice called, prompting Amata to turn to the side. Coming in from what Amata assumed to be the management room, an elderly man in glasses, a beret, and an outfit usually associated with directors greeted him. Racking his new set of memories, Amata immediately identified this old man as William Blue, the only other person that kept this place running aside from Amata himself.

"Well," Amata started, trying to build a sufficient alibi, "It looked like it was going to be a nice day outside, so I decided to go through the city - take in the sights and stuff, you know?" He shrugged and nervously smiled, hoping that it would be enough for the old guy.

Blinking, the old man then laughed jovially, responding with "Ah, what it is to be young! Still," Mr. Blue continued with a softer mood, "I have to thank you for your help in keeping this place afloat, Amata-kun. Times are tough, these days."

Noting the departure in atmosphere, Amata then idly realized that it did seem as though there was actually less activity than he would have associated with a city as beautiful as this – more so for one of the many social pastimes he knew most people enjoyed. He was curious, that's for sure, but it felt as though it was something well beyond his reach – for now.

"Ah, but I digress! Since business is still as slow as ever, I'll let you take care of the movies, Amata-kun! Consider this one on the house!" Mr. Blue diverted the conversation again.

Amazed that his boss would actually let him watch any theatrical release he wanted, Amata could only answer with "Th-thank you, Mr. Blue! Don't worry, I'll take absolute care of the place, I swear it!" With that, Amata raced towards the central theater's projection room, eager to see what films they had in this age.

Had he been more aware, though, he would've noticed the two strange USB-Drives attached to his inside jacket like keychains, one green with a 'C' shaped like the center of a twister, and the other, black and purple with a stylized 'J'…

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><p>Somewhere much further away, a brunette man with an eye-patch over his right emerald eye, a somewhat spiky mane of brown hair, and an maroon outfit quite like something out of a fairy-tale ball stood over multi-colored crystal ground, smirking with his eyes shut before he flicked a Joker card from seemingly out of nowhere.<p>

"A new legend calls for you, Alexander Grey – no, Amata Sora! You must prove if you truly are the Trump Card that can change the course of the End!" this strange man declared. As he said so, the very air itself churned with thousands of colored letters, each one connected to transparent skeleton-keys.

Skeleton-keys that were now flying to the place they were most needed.

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><p>As he shuffled the various film-reels, Amata made more notes and observations about his new environment. Despite all of the advances in technology, it seemed that society still functioned quite like his – or, as he jokingly noticed, the classic setting for any respectable science-fictionfantasy story. During his meditation, though, Amata came upon the only reel that seemed like it was watched more often than the others. Feeling like this was probably the old Amata's favorite, he grabbed it and referenced it in the poster-&-summary catalogue that the projector room provided. And that was where everything finally came together.

The poster not only had that woman from his dreams, but it also had a golden robot that he could've identified even a mile away! The wings that looked like holy bows, the red-green-blue eyes, and the oval halo all pointed to an unmistakable machine!

"It's…Aquarion…"Amata finally managed to speak, "which means - !" He realized at last where he was.

This was the world of Genesis of Aquarion…and, ironically enough, twelve-thousand years into the new cycle! Which meant that Silvia and Apollo, the two lovers that were once human and Angel, were going to find each other again, and therefore –

"And therefore bring another war just like the ones against the Shadow Angels!" Amata grasped the idea in horror, knowing all too well how catastrophic the prospect was. "Wait – if I'm here, then this must mean there's more to this than even the new handlers of Aquarion can handle!" Taking the film and setting it up in the projector like his new memories provided, he hunched back and watched the screen intently. Gathering every ounce of concentration he could muster, Amata analyzed the beginning of "Skies of Aquaria" with the utmost haste.

If today was his new start in the world, it also meant it was now time for the new legend to begin…

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I only own Alex. Every other element belongs to their original owners, namely the Aquarion production group, Shotaro Ishinomori and the other guys behind the Kamen Rider series, and Square Enix and Disney.<strong>


	2. Debut of a New W, part 2

_Chapter 2: Debut of a New W/Rebirth! Two-Wills Angel!_

**Another edit here!**

During that very moment when Amata started watching "Skies of Aquaria", more developments had been occurring at the new grounds for which this world defended itself. Like the Deava from twelve-thousand years past, this organization helped train the human beings that bore the potential of Aquarion, or "Element Users" as they were called.

For most still new to this world, it must be known that back twenty-four thousand years ago, the original Aquarion was made and tested in the heat of battle against - ironically enough- its own people. Back in that time period, two major civilizations occupied Earth – the humans, and the "Shadow Angels". While both were capable of incredible acts of both goodwill and cruelty, both sides looked at each other with disgust and envy – the Humans hated the supposed superiority of the Shadow Angels, while the Shadow Angels themselves both despised the mortality of humanity and envied their vitality. In a twist of fate, however – as Amata/Alex knew nearly by heart – war erupted between both sides because the impossible had happened.

A Shadow Angel, the crimson-locked "Angel of Massacre" Apollonius, and the human warrior Celiane, had met in the field of battle and fell in love.

By coming to understand the humans' true potential for compassion and the fact that the majority of Shadow Angels had strayed from any attemptable path to peace, Apollonius chose to shed part of his essence to create the ultimate guardian for a new age: the Mechanical Angel, Aquarion. Piloting it alongside Celiane and their major human ally, Scorpius, Apollonius managed to drive his brethren back and win victory for humanity.

However, the mutual hatred between Angels and Humans had grown far too great for Aquarion alone to stop. With one vengeful blow, most of the Shadow Angels faced annihilation from an unknown blast, and their capitol city, Atlandia was reduced to a mere shade of its former self. Even worse, the ward of both Angel and Human – the Tree of Life, that root of the entirety of Earth, almost collapsed. And with it, all life on their world would vanish for all eternity. In a fit of outrage at a love deemed forbidden, all had unintentionally pushed themselves to the brink of destruction.

To prevent such a disaster, Apollonius chose to give himself up to the Tree, reestablishing its connection to the world while sealing the few Angels left in sleep. As the last pieces of life flowed away from his being, Apollonius looked to Celiane and promised her this:

"We will meet again, Celiane…so please, protect this beautiful world at all costs!"

And with that, the world, so near to the end, was born again.

_'And I already know how the next cycle played out'_ Amata thought wryly to himself, although he WAS curious as to how accurate history managed to be with concerns to the story of Apollonius and Celiane's new selves – Apollo and Silvia de Alisia, or "Apollon" and "Sylvie" as people remembered them. One question tugged at him insistently, though. The question was: Just what was the new Deava, the organization with Aquarion's official power, like if a new threat happened to appear? And, more importantly, just what was he supposed to interfere with?

"Looks like I'll need a little detective work for this one," Amata affirmed to himself. "I guess the trouble has only just begun!"

If only he knew how soon that statement would come true.

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><p>Not too far from Neo-Kowloon, this world's own counterpart to Hong Kong, life had continued as it normally did at the new facility of Element Users – the Holy Angel Academy.<p>

One detail in particular, though, stood out like a sore thumb that somewhat marred the aesthetic majesty of the school. Namely, the gigantic wall that split the front of the island academy like a knife, brilliantly deemed the "Berlin". One could not look at it and say it would make sense at face value – Aquarion itself needed absolute unity amongst its trinity of pilots. Any form of desynchronization would do far more harm than good.

Of course, one would seem to grasp the situation immediately once they actually entered the grounds. For you see, the right and left sides of the school had become separate bodies for teaching the Elements. Whether as a precaution to prevent any kind of repeat of the original wars or a tragedy far more recent, amongst the many changes that Neo-Deava made, there was one that nearly made it a for a straight decade at the academy.

For all intents and purposes, Male and Female Elements were to be taught separately at all times. Enforcing this standard were three entities that helped the academy along for the last few years – for the girls, Madame Suomi, a devout nun that lead all of them in religious activities in order to support the "purity" of all-female combinations with the "Aquaria" as well as the church established in honor of Aquarion itself. Leading the males was Sergeant Donar Dantes, a rigorous military man with cybernetic arms that did more than put the boys into shape. Lastly, there was a new function – a new seal – within the Aquaria machines themselves, the "protecting wall of chastity", the Guize Stones.

Yes, "chastity" is mentioned here because, as a robot formed from three machines/Vectors, Aquarion also combined its own power with that of the Elements piloting it, causing parts of their souls to overlap. In more blunt and embarrassing honesty, the Elements…become "one", in a sense.

All that information aside, taking a break from classes was one of the more prominent of the female students, Zessica Wong. Amongst the academy's tenants, she was notable not only for her attractiveness (read: her cute emerald hair, striking violet-blue eyes, and rather…well developed female attributes for her age), but also for her natural affinity with the Aquaria unit and her more…liberal view of the opposite sex. Out of all the females, she was probably the most vocal and open-minded about "Gattai" with a boy, much to the ire of Miss Suomi and her orange-pigtailed, glasses-bound (and much fuller in the front) friend MIX, both of whom practically breathed the conception that cross-gender unions with the Aquaria were forbidden. Had Zessica been more attentive, she might have found ways to defend the other sex, but she paid no mind to them for the moment.

The reason why? She was intently looking at some peculiar object she chanced upon – a red USB drive bearing an 'H' stylized to look like flames.

"Hmm…" Zessica pondered "What exactly are you, little guy?" Taking it closer to herself, she spun around to the general direction of her dorm room. "The suspicions are too much! Mou!" she pouted, her curiosity too strong to ignore – and with no apparent answer at hand.

To think that she would learn more about this strange memory drive at the same time as she discovered more truths about Aquaria…

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><p>Having reached the near-end of the movie, which was basically an altered version of the original series' finale (altered in that Apollo was now a pretty-boy that might have alluded to Apollonius, while Silvia was played by the woman from Amata's memory, "Alicia" as she was called, athough something in his new memories insisted that she was much more to Amata), Amata just idly listened to Alicia's song playing as he decided to clean up the theater – just to be polite in returning Mr. Blue's hospitality. Quite frankly, he summarized the movie as being just like the anime from his world – love it or hate it, it <em>does<em> have good points going for it as a visual story.

"Shame it's out of print now – what a nice movie." Amata mused as he started gathering more trash from the empty theater.

Or, he assumed it was empty, so he was certainly surprised by the sight not far from him – a head of violet hair with two locks to the side, the rest of it bundled up around a strange hair-ornament that looked suspiciously like rabbit ears. Daring to examine the admittedly cute girl at a closer range, Amata was surprised to see that the girl, clad in a black-around the torso shirt with long white sleeves, a two-layered skirt with doilies on top and a shade of pink on the bottom, and lighter-violet mid-thigh-length socks, actually having tears sparkling on her cheeks. And damn, was she cute! The emerald eyes only enhanced the image this girl presented.

Hesitating for a bit, Amata then gathered himself in a helpful, but bemused smirk as he asked the girl "Anything the matter, miss?"

"Ah!" the girl yelped in surprise as she became aware of someone other than her being in the theater. "I-I'm sorry! I'll leave right away!" She then stood up before attempting to leave.

"Now hold on there, ma'am!" Amata cautioned the girl as he tried to stop her from leaving. "I should be sorry, being so blunt like that" he added as he sheepishly grinned, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. That seemed to calm the girl down some, since she just blinked before letting out a small giggle. Fully defusing a positively embarrassing first meeting, Amata then inquired the girl,

"Would this be your first time watching "Skies of Aquaria"?"

"Yes," the girl responded, "but I'm sorry for intruding! I didn't think there would be someone else in here!"

"Ah, don't worry about that!" Amata casually waved that aside. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Amata Sora, here to help!" he said, extending his hand on bent knee like a gentleman. Judging from the girl's blush, he must have been doing it pretty darn well.

'Wow, this actually worked? You'd think this stuff was possible only in the movies!' Amata thought to himself.

"I-I'm Mikono Suzushiro. P-pleased to meet you, Amata-kun!" she answered in kind, letting her hand be grasped by Amata's.

"I should be pleased that this place is still floating thanks to nice folks like you coming along to watch!" Amata couldn't help but crack a joke, if only to make Mikono feel more comfortable.

"Oh, y-you don't have to thank me, Amata-kun!" Mikono protested his goodwill. "Um…but is it okay if I have a copy of the movie?"

"Ah, darn! No luck there – "Skies of Aquaria" has been out of print for the last decade." Amata told her. "You know what? Let me return your being here by telling you more about it! Just wait for me outside, okay?" he offered her along with a smile.

"O-okay!" Mikono took him up on the offer. "Thank you Amata-kun!" With that, she kindly left the theater, awaiting Amata after he finished up here.

Amata was probably never any luckier than he was before now. He actually got to meet the kind of girl most anybody would kill for! As he picked up the pace with the clean-up, though, he contemplated Mikono herself for a bit.

"She certainly is nice, but I can't help but wonder – is she the new Silvia?" He thought about the possibility – and came up with the idea that she might really be Silvia's reincarnation.

"So I guess Amata would've been the new Apollo" He mused, remembering Amata's levitating powers.

"But then again, what if Apollo and Silvia aren't restricted to just single personas in the new cycle?" he wondered – that was what happened to Celiane, so who was to say that it wouldn't happen again?

"Well, I'll just have to improvise as things get along – and besides, Mikono is still a nice girl to know, reincarnation playing in or not!" the youth concluded, taking the trash to the right disposal bin before he locked up the theater. Checking to see if he still had the money from yesterday, Amata was half-surprised to see it had changed from U.S. dollar bills to actual golden orbs!

"Munny and a near-infinite pocket space?" Alex questioned the circumstances. "Yep, I am DEFINITELY in for a wild ride!"

And with that - after clearing things up with Mr. Blue, of course! - Amata departed for the first "date" he ever had – in any world!

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><p>Catching up with Mikono, Amata led her to one of the boat-taxis he assumed were common place in this city.<p>

"Trip for two please, mister!" Amata told the driver as he and Mikono settled into the boat. Handing over the exact amount of 15 munny for one trip, Amata just sat back and watched the scenery with Mikono. What caught his attention, though, were reports of "Abductors" paralyzing the traffic center of New China City coming from the radio the boat provided.

"Those Abductors attacked again," Mikono said forlornly.

"Yeah – guess that's why people can't afford even little pleasures like movies these days" Amata nodded. "We can only hope that the Aquaria can get the job done when they attack."

At the mention of Aquaria, Mikono seemed to drop a level in her cheerfulness, which Amata noticed right away. However, Mikono changed things around with "Abductors or not, I just can't stay cooped up at home forever. The sun's too nice to ignore!"

"Nice policy to follow, Mikono-san." Amata added his two cents in.

"Most people just call it stupid" Mikono objected bashfully before a motorized boat brushed a little too closely to their ride, causing Mikono to fall into Amata. Before Amata could ask her if she was okay, her hair ornament actually flew out of her hair and _bit him_!

"AHH!" Amata reacted naturally.

"WHAT THE F*^% IS THIS THING?"

….with added chili and other spices.

"Ah! Sorry!" Mikono apologized, which prompted the weird…creature to stop biting on his ring finger. "This is my pet cat, ShuShu. Sorry for his behavior!"

"THAT is a cat?" Amata just couldn't wrap his head around the idea – that was NO cat!

"Of course he is! Aren't you, ShuShu?" Mikono plainly answered before petting the little pet. ShuShu, in turn, purred with delight.

'Guess that justifies her calling him a cat…if only a little.' Amata speculated, no small amount of annoyance being directed at the strange creature.

"I found him after an Abductor attack, and I've been taking care of him ever since!" Mikono added, as though ShuShu being what he was and his subsequent glare at Amata before twirling his tails threateningly were completely natural.

Letting it slide for the moment, Amata decided to tell her about the Aquaria movie – although it didn't need much explaining, since the "fairy tale" of Apollon and Sylvie was common knowledge these days. What did capture his interest, though, was the fact that the song Alicia sung for the movie was actually popular enough to earn its own series.

'Is this a deliberate reference to popular culture and the entertainment industry as is? Or do people's tastes still act like they do in my own time?' Amata wondered. 'Guess wherever you go, some things really are universal.'

* * *

><p>A strange person wearing a white coat and a butterfly mask just sneezed at that very moment. "Somebody must be using my lines" he mused in annoyance.<p>

* * *

><p>A few moments later, Amata and Mikono were enjoying the city-view from one of the mountain-side buildings.<p>

"Hey, Amata-kun. Did you know that, supposedly somewhere in the world, there's a school where they train the pilots for the Aquaria?" Mikono asked Amata in a new conversation. "They say that only those chosen by Aquaria could ever become Elements. People like Apollon and Sylvie…" she continued, just as they both reached a statue depicting Apollon and Sylvie in a rather intimate kiss.

'Not exactly something people should probe into', Amata mused as a sweatdrop rolled down his forehead, slightly disturbed that people would commit something so private and intimate to public art.

"Say, Amata-kun, have you ever dreamed of piloting the Aquaria?" Mikono inquired. Just looking at her with a bemused face, Alex simply replied

"What kid wouldn't want to ride a real giant robot, even if only for a while? But," he paused for a moment, "I can't help but feel as though I wouldn't be good enough, seeing as how I'm not Apollon."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Mikono asked him about that opinion.

"The original Aquaria _was_ made using Apollon's spirit and the bond between him and Sylvie. You could say that the two of them were the real heart and soul of Aquaria." Amata conjectured. "And considering what they were like in life, I don't think many other people could match up - least of all someone like me."

"So it means that the only people who can pilot it are people with strong elements…" Mikono drew up, depressed. But before Amata could object, she then looked at him and said "See, Amata-kun? We're a useless pair!"

"GAACK!" Amata yelled as he randomly face-faulted at Mikono's contrasting words and voice – unfortunately, he face-faulted backwards on a staircase, which basically translated to one thing: very bad case of lulu.

"Amata-kun!" Mikono cried in shock and worry as she raced towards Alex's fallen form. "Are you okay?"

"Just…one…question…" Amata managed to force out. "How…can you…say…depressing words…so…cheerfullyyyyyyyy….." And like that, he fainted from a small concussion…right onto Mikono's bosom.

* * *

><p>Waking up a little bit later, Amata had a small headache before everything came back to him. Looking up, he saw Mikono smiling in embarrassment…upside down?<p>

'Oh god, don't tell me…' Amata immediately lifted himself up from Mikono's lap, prostrating before her and repeating "I'm Sorry!" over and over again. To anyone passing by, it would've seemed a pretty crazy sight – like a boyfriend apologizing profusely before his girlfriend for something he did wrong.

"Oh, Amata-kun…" Mikono started, but was interrupted by ShuShu leaping out from his place in her hair and barking at the distant sky.

A sky that now held lights approaching like a vulture swooping in for the kill.

* * *

><p>"Kagura," a grizzled voice talked to the redheaded, exotic man leading the Abductor squadron. "Don't fool around. This mission is the Mithra Gniss's maiden voyage, so stay strictly to reconnaissance. Understood?"<p>

Kagura, a yellow-eyed man in a black shirt with a feathered collar and blue pants that seemed very tribal, casually accepted with a nod before he pressed the sphere on his right side, allowing his robot's sensors to amplify his own senses – particularly his nose. Taking in a deep breath, he then let out a feral grin.

"So this is Vega…." he mused, "…it smells good."

Instantly, the strange spherical walkers flew into different directions, the bulbous pods from underneath panels flipping out from their sides launching out like tentacles before they captured as many people as they could, tearing up parts of the city in the process. Despite the city's automated turrets doing the best they could, the Abductors suffered no casualties before they sliced the turrets apart with one sweep of their beams.

"Crap!" Amata yelled as he saw the grey machines decimate the defense turrets. "Mikono-san, quick! We have to get away from here!" he shouted as he grabbed Mikono's hand and tried to make a run for it. Before they even got a yard away, though, one Abductor unit landed right near them. Analyzing Mikono in particular, it prepared to extract her when automated gunfire shot into its head.

As the grunt crashed, Amata and Mikono saw what destroyed it – the Aquaria, though one that seemed built more for defense and military firepower as opposed to the original Aquarion. What made it stand out was the admittedly more…masculine color scheme – blue, black, and some green on its chest – as well as how it chose to attack. Wielding a rifle not unlike the one found in most video games, it kept firing at targets only at little movement on its part. Unfortunately for the pilots, it would prove to be a terrible disadvantage – flashing down from the sky and across from the waters forming the city bay, a magenta humanoid robot that looked like a moth brandishing an ax suddenly slammed the Aquaria Type-M away.

Righting itself in time, the Aquaria fired rapidly at the Mithra Gniss, which only dodged each shot as it closed in. Close-up and personal with the Aquaria, the enemy mecha knocked it to the right before it flash-stepped behind it, batting it with its ax before the second hit sent the Type-M flying again. Just before the Type-M could retaliate, however, the Mithra Gniss was right in its face, charging into the Aquaria with a resounding _CLANG_!

As the Abductor commander fought in practical circles around the Aquaria, Mikono could only watch in shock while Amata tried his damnedest to keep her safe. "Ah _dammit_ – the stairs are busted!" he yelled in frustration. It didn't help his mood any that the Mithra Gniss knocked the Type-M down with just three swings of its ax.

Adding insult to injury, the moth-mecha grabbed the blue Aquaria before it sent it flying into one of the buildings within the city. Just as it looked like a winged devil poised to execute the Aquaria, though, a missile barrage prompted the Abductor machine to dodge away from its prey. Destroying the missiles with a well-timed sweep from his ax, Kagura's mecha was treated to fighting a pink version of the Aquaria, which fared a little better by shooting conservatively.

Regarding each other for a moment, the Type-F Aquaria's main pilot broke the silence. "We meet at last, boys." stated a pink-and-black-suited Zessica.

In the second cockpit, her friend MIX just added "Boys are just rough when they're fighting. It looks so disgusting!"

The third member of their group, seemingly-Indian Sazanka Bianca, just opened up communications with the boys before exclaiming "Cayenne-sama! It's really you!"

Of the three pilots of the Type-M, black-spiked Cayenne could only shake his head at the girl's antics. Why _now_ did one of the team have to go all-fangirl just because an attractive male was present?

Getting back into the action, the Mithra Gniss just hefted its ax onto its right shoulder.

"The new prey smells different," Kagura noted, "Kind of funny!"

Both Aquarias then engaged him in a pincer maneuver, but he aerially weaved through the bullets and missiles with little problems. Taking advantage of the missiles' heat seeking capabilities, the Mithra Gniss directed them onto the ground in front of the two faux-Machine Angels. At this point, the more vocal members of each team – MIX for the girls and ski-hat wearing Andy for the boys – broke down into an argument, completely throwing cooperation out the window. Unfortunately, this was all the distraction Kagura needed, as the Mithra Gniss suddenly whipped a magenta tornado from its ax, sweeping the two Aquarias together.

When the two collided, two things happened in sequence: first, the whole of each trio met their counterparts in a sort of astral overlapping. However, due to the effects of the Guize Stones as barriers barring contact between the two sexes, both were knocked away from each other – with the Type-F grazing the statue of Apollon and Sylvie just enough for it to start toppling right onto Amata and Mikono!

"Mikono! Get down!" Amata yelled before he flattened himself and Mikono onto the ground, shielding her just as the statue crashed onto them.

Gathering all of her energy just to ascertain Amata's condition, Mikono was terrified to see blood dripping from Amata's head. "Amata-kun! Stop! You're hurt too badly!"

"Don't worry about this…I can handle it…" Amata tried to assure her.

"But - " Mikono started, but Amata interrupted with "Letting other people get hurt like this…not being able to help…that's what really hurts me, Mikono-san." At this point, Amata now bore an expression stonily set in determination.

"It's gonna be alright, Mikono-chan – I'm not gonna let you get hurt, no matter what!" he resolutely stated, even as the battle between the Type-F Aquaria and the Mithra Gniss continued.

"Amata-kun! Don't do this! You don't have to!" Mikono protested, just as the Mithra Gniss finally noticed them. With both Aquarias out of action for the moment, it seemed like the both of them were done for!

"No…" Amata said to himself. "It cannot end here…it will NOT end here….Not like _this_!" Unbeknownst to him, but noticed by Mikono, two strange objects – green and black USB drives – floated out from his coat.

"Amata-kun?" Mikono asked, thoroughly confused by both the objects and by Amata's rising…aura?

"I will NOT just lie down and die…" Amata's voice started rising in volume, enough even for the Aquarias to hear.

"WHEN THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE…."

Both of the drives then plunged into his heart, announcing their true names and power:

"_CYCLONE!_" "_JOKER!_"

"**_I HAVE TO FIGHT FOOOOOR!_**"

And with a triumphant roar, a sudden tornado of wind, and the Aquarias' breaking into the individual Vector planes, Amata Sora and Mikono Suzushiro were transported into the red-detailed Vector Zed. In that instant, Amata's entire world was flooded with pure _power_.

Every emotion that the original Aquarion felt, even when it was just a machine…every heartbeat of every life on the planet….every last vision, dream, memory gave him more power than he could have ever hoped to grasp, could have even _dared_ to dream about. But now, he did have the strength necessary for him to win.

Amata finally understood how he would Interfere with this world's fate. He finally understood what real power he now possessed.

And more importantly, he knew just what words to use to get that power unleashed!

"REBIRTH GATTAI! _GO…**AQUARIOOOOON**_**!**"

With an entire twister revolving around them, Mikono, Cayenne, and Zessica – not to mention the whole of Neo-Deava, who were watching the spectacle from start to finish – were understandably surprised. It was even more so when the three Vectors – one male, one female, and one playing host to both – did what had long been regarded as "forbidden":

They all combined!

"Wait…stop…"Zessica's astral self implored the gestalt, "It's too much! It feels like…"

"We're being ripped apart…"Cayenne continued in her stead. "And..and…"

"It's like we're all going to burst!" Mikono concluded for all of them – save the one who initiated the process.

"Everyone…" Amata's voice reached out to all of them, "Don't fight against it. This isn't just us and Aquarion in here anymore. Now…"

As the transformation sequence for what would have been another Aquarion neared completion, two new factors introduced themselves with a cry of "_CYCLONE! JOKER!_"

"We and the heart of this world…._BECOME **ONE!**_"

With the symbols of Cyclone and Joker crashing into Aquarion, something else was awakened. In a flash of purple light and emerald gales, another legend – another HERO, touched down on Earth.

From the entire right side, green light reminiscent of the swirls of a tornado veiled the right half of the new Angel, with an ethereal emerald scarf flying from his neck. Contrarily, black and purple armor stylized like the muscles of some ancient guardian demigod decorated the rest of this new form.

Looking on in pure awe and shock, all who witnessed the transformation of the Vectors into this…truly humanoid titan could only say one thing, as Kagura himself did.

"What…what exactly ARE you?"

Combining the power it now wielded with the soul of the one who initiated it, the giant spoke.

"I…am the new Guardian Angel of this world. One who seeks the truth of this legend of the end!"

Dramatically turning to its right side, the giant that was once Aquarion spread his hand, as though he wielded claws.

"I…am…Aquarion…DOUBLE!" the great titan announced at last.

"_Saa…_" he slowly raised his hand up, "_omae no…_" he turned his head and looked with the eyes of Judgment Day, "_tsumi o kazoero!_" Double finished with his left hand pointing like a gun.

(Now…count the number of your sins!)

And thus, a new legend - a new Interference, was born.

* * *

><p>Back at the command center of Neo-Deava, all persons present could only stare with unmistakable confusion.<p>

"The Guize Stones…" the man that served as Commander and Principal stated, dumbfounded, "they were broken!"

Most others, though, noticed the far more drastic changes the Aquaria went under.

"W-what the heck is that?" one of the girls squeaked.

"It looks like…a real, genuine Guardian Angel!" another quipped.

"WOOHOO!" Andy cried in jubilation, more than enthusiastic over the change. "Now THAT is real badassery right there!" he declared.

"H-how vulgar!" MIX responded in kind. "And speaking of which, that abomination is vulgar! The whole IDEA of men and women committing Gattai is vulgar!"

"I _HEARD_ that last statement, Missy!" Everyone jumped at the new voice – it was Amata! "For future reference, could you direct your insults towards something that _won't_ blow up your head when you make it mad?"

If anyone was more surprised about this, it was certainly the lass sitting in the lap of a now-comatose Amata Sora.

"Amata-kun! Wake up!" she pleaded him. "What happened? Please, we have to retreat!" Mikono was practically a nervous wreck.

"Mikono!" Cayenne interrupted, his image opening up in the spherical cockpit of Vector Zed. "What are you doing here? And who's the kid?"

"He's -!"

"Is he the one who hijacked the Aquaria? Why isn't he actually doing anything?" he started losing his temper, especially seeing Mikono on the lap of the person responsible for this new fiasco.

"Hold it, pal!" Amata's disembodied voice echoed throughout Double's new body indignantly. "Like it or not, I'm the one that can keep us alive at this point, but that's _only_ if we all work together here!" Looking at the Mithra Gniss, Amata dared to open communications with it before saying

"Alright, Abductor bozo! If you decide to go quietly and tell us what we need to know, we _might_ just let you go as a prisoner of war rather than another fatality!"

"You…" Kagura could only sniff the kid's scent and inhale before he let loose a sneer. "You actually think I'm gonna tell some _freak_ my world's business?" With that, the moth-like mecha leaped forward with a cry of "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"

"!" Amata reacted, and together with Zessica, he thrust an open palm against the Mithra Gniss – and, right before their eyes, a giant hand of flames and wind mimicking his movements slammed into it, leaving a sizable dent in the mountainside behind Kagura in the process.

Nearly flattened by the attack, Kagura pushed back at Double, countered by a swift left knee to the midsection before the half-and-half Angel spun around with a vicious backhand. Knocked onto the ground, Mithra Gniss leaped back feet-first at Double, who responded using a lightning-speed series of roundhouse kicks that launched the magenta-machine back into the air.

"Ngrrrr…" Now Kagura started unraveling, "Don't screw with me!"

Taking his ax he actually started shooting lasers at Double! With his feet and fists alight with either compressed hurricanes or purple smoke and light, Double punched and kicked each laser back at the Abductor leader with ease, desperately trying to avoid the city proper. Blocking an overhead chop from the Mithra Gniss's ax, Double sent one more hurricane-enhanced punch that knocked both opponents away. At this point, both giants gave signs of battle-damage beginning to appear.

"Such power…" Cayenne gasped out, now feeling the flow of energy that seemed to permeate Double's body. "But Mikono's still – argh!"

Instantaneously, all people present – and those watching – were witness to strange spires not unlike those from Amata's memories rising from the ground. Even more still, an entire procession of what looked like mourners marched up to the central hill, where two people stood in a parody of a wedding ceremony.

"What is this?" Amata wondered, his glowing consciousness floating alongside the cockpits of the Vectors, now suspended in air.

"No – it's the wedding in mourning clothes!" Cayenne realized in terror, "the forbidden union!"

"But who's in the marriage?" Amata and Zessica asked in Mikono's stead, just as the bride and groom turned to face them. To everyone's horror, the bride was Mikono – but the groom terrified Amata more, because aside from the darker shade of red and the yellow eyes, he looked exactly like Apollo!

"Is this what they meant by a forbidden love…?" Amata wondered about both it and the implications it brought. Before anyone could question anything more, though, the vision changed – to something Amata was very familiar with.

Once again, an army of giants, which now looked like variations of the Aquarion and the Mithra Gniss, waged war in a valley of arms plunged into the earth, synthetic liquids – which looked too much like blood to be comfortable – and parts of the giants littering the battlefield. This time, though, they stopped when something broke the perpetual twilight. Like some ungodly fang, a jagged streak of white ripped the sky asunder, daylight giving in to nightfall as blue light shone from only one source:

A moon shaped eerily like a heart.

What came after it, though, thoroughly rocked Amata to the core, especially as it held one too many blades embedded into its body like bone. Turning around with the great, but terrible slowness of a butcher leaning in for the last swing of the cleaver, was a monster black as death, and yet white as the very moon that rained light upon its form. Razor-sharp edges, claws and swords that seemed as though they were actually living entities, and the red slits among black eyes gave all the identification Amata needed.

The infamous Devil of Begins Night, Double FangJoker, had been reborn – as an organic mockery of its original self.

And that was before its tentacles lashed out, spearing every last giant through before FangJoker…consumed them.

Even though Amata had already seen a variation of such devilry in video games, it was even more gut-wrenching in reality – all of the giants being broken apart and screaming their last words as the monochrome demon brought them all spiraling in, rippling like water as they were consumed. Leaving the battleground barren, the beast lowered its head, as though offering the inhumane sacrifices it had devoured to the heart-shaped moon.

And, with one last glance at all those with the misfortune of watching this tragedy, it _smiled_ with the rivers of Hell dripping from its teeth.

Breaking the vision was the Mithra Gniss suddenly charging towards them on all fours, brimming with an inky smoke that Kagura paid no mind to. Reacting by a hair's width, Double preempted the attack and slid around Kagura's mecha, lashing out with several windy palm-thrusts before bicycle-kicking his enemy away.

"Amazing…" Mikono remembered her voice, gripping Amata's unconscious body just to keep it safe.

"No kidding! I can feel this newbie's strength!" Zessica butted in, finally getting over the shock of both her and Cayenne's respective Elements kicking in.

"I'm lost on whether to take that as an insult or a compliment," the slightly-altered voice of Amata appeared again, "But maybe it's time we wrapped this up!"

Quite suddenly, wind whipped about from Double's position, nearly enveloping the green-and-black giant. While everybody else got understandably frightened, Mikono noticed a smile creasing Amata's lips. Seeing this, Mikono just held on with all her might, giving all of her faith onto Amata's shoulders.

'_He can_ _handle this_' she assured herself, '_I just_ know _it!_'

Thankfully, the twister also incapacitated Kagura as well, spinning him above the dome of wind that formed around Aquarion. Not wasting the chance, the Two-World Hearts Angel suddenly conjured up a scaled-up version of the black Joker Memory, pressing it on the J before plunging it into a slot on the right side of his waist. With a mechanical voice announcing "JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" Aquarion then leaped into the Mithra Gniss, the very air around them assisting in pushing them further and further beyond the atmosphere.

Eyeing the bestial warrior one last time – 'For now, at least', Amata mused' – Aquarion opened its arms (it crossed them across the Mithra Gniss's front as they launched) with a defiant push before somersaulting back, straightening out with one last cry from Amata:

"_JOKER EXTREME…**CRUUUUUSH**_**!**"

And like an arrow of the gods, Aquarion rushed with both feet aimed at Kagura, splitting apart Joker-end first. Boosting once more, both halves of Aquarion Double met Mithra Gniss's stomach area before crashing into a stray asteroid from the nearby belt.

Suffice to say, one could already guess how much it hurt when more than the majority of the asteroid broke up in a spiral of dust – _all from the impact point_.

Kicking up from the broken machine, Aquarion Double could only look at it before a familiar mystic circle – a Dimension Gate – sucked the now-limbless Mithra Gniss into it, probably going back into wherever the Abductors made home.

"Looks like it's only just begun," Amata stated grimly using Aquarion's faceplate, before Zessica brought up an imminent issue:

"Not to rain on everyone's high spirits, but…shouldn't we be undergoing some kind of atmospheric re-entry right now?"

As if to illustrate her point, Aquarion slowly drifted down towards the Earth – which made Amata aware of the situation, which then caused the poor robot to accelerate!

"NOW what do we do, genius?" Cayenne snarled at Amata, even though he couldn't see his consciousness as it was now.

"Aside from helping your temperament, pal? Just one thing." Amata responded as calmly as he could.

"_EVERYBODY BRACE FOR IMPACT!_"

Aquarion dropped like a rock from a several-stories-tall cliff, rolling around comically in its fall as all of its occupants let out shrieks, "gah!" or "_YAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY_!"

Desperately trying to slow down the fall, Amata summoned up every last bit of wind the Cyclone memory could produce, making Aquarion appear more like a condensed twister the further they went. Finally reaching minimum velocity, Amata let the winds loose, creating a memorable hurricane around the landing area. His heart beating far too fast to settle down, Amata involuntarily knelt down, his right hand pounding the ground in the process. Daring to look back up, Amata noted the few scars the battle left on his hometown. Disheartened but not broken, Amata simply listened to the jubilant cries of Neo-Deava as Zessica and Cayenne exited their cockpits, trying to assist the two new members of their team with the same.

With the days' events catching up to her, Mikono managed a small smile before she tried to wake Amata up."Amata-kun, let's go."

Before she could though, Amata jolted with one last influx of energy before he fell asleep – again, using Mikono as support. Blushing madly at first, Cayenne's reaction be forbidden, Mikono just cradled Alex close. Even though he didn't give any warnings before-hand or signs of it when they first met, she knew that he was somehow tense, wound-up – and even more afraid than she realized.

"Get some rest, Amata-kun" she softly whispered as she brought the boy close, "you've earned it."

A small smile of triumph and hope visited Amata's lips for a while before he nodded off again. Whatever happened to bring him here, Amata had beaten the odds regardless.

And now, he had found new people – new friends – to call "family".

All in a day's work for a Kamen Rider.

* * *

><p>(Theme: <strong>W-B-X: Double-Boiled Extreme<strong>, by Aya Kamiki and TAKUYA)

(As the song starts, we see the back of Aquarion Double keeping vigil over Neo-Kowloon, the moon shining over everything as his Windy Stabilizer scarf fluttered in the gales. Following the song shifting into its more Rock form, the Cyclone and Joker Memories collided, forming the famous W of Kamen Rider Double alongside the symbol of Aquarion)

**AQUARION: CHAIN OF FATED MEMORIES**

(Just as the title appears, Amata is seen pocketing both of his current Memories before fading into the wind)

_Dub-B-X, CRIME AND THE CITY!_

(Amata was waking up to the new day, just as Madame Suomi came in to check on her surrogate ward)

_Mata dareka ga totsuzen DOA wo tataku/Once again, there's a sudden knock on my door_

(With photos of his flash-dressing, Amata was fully decked-out as he looked to Neo-Kowloon and the real Fuuto Tower)

_Jiken no yokan WELCOME TO THE WINDY CITY/I sense a case coming. Welcome to the windy city_

(A simplified Amata was running throughout the city, trying to quell any trouble that he came across)

_Kono machi ni wa namida wa niawanai ze/Tears don't suit this city_

(Amata, Zessica and Cayenne tried to desperately sort the various words and Memories that now flooded the area, before Amata snatched a black one with an 'S' shaped like a skull)

_Yami ni hisomu Keyword mitsuke-dasou /Spot those keywords hiding in the darkness_

(Mikono and Zessica arrived to greet Amata just before he slumped down, instantly recharged by their presence)

_Hitori de wa todokanai yume/That dream which couldn't be reached alone..._

(Amata, Zessica and Mikono found themselves in an infinite library, before falling onto a stained-glass platform depicting Amata as both Aquarion and a more sinister Mithra Gniss)

_(Kensa suru mugen no Archive! Kioku to iu umi e DAIBU!)/(Search the infinite archive! Dive into the ocean of memories!)_

(Gathering his wits as he looked at the two girls, Amata let the halves of Aquarion Double – the windy Cyclone, the flame-like Heat, the crescent-moon-decorated Luna, the lean-muscle and scarred Joker, the robotic Metal, and the knight-like Trigger – appear from his essence)

_Kimi to nara kanaerareru HALF AND HALF/It it's with you, we can make it happen: Half and Half_

(Amata assumed the classic pose before crying "Henshin!")

_(DOUBLE-BOILED-EXTREME!)_

(Aquarion-Double went through its various forms, brandishing gauntlets and grieves, different staves, or different guns with each change of the Body Memories)

_DUB-B-X! futari no BODY AND SOUL (Hoka ni naisa Only tsumari ainori) hitotsu ni/DUB-B-X two bodies and souls…(There's no one else, I'll only ride with you)…fused into one_

(Amata leaped out, brandishing a sword shaped like a key before transforming into Kamen Rider Double on the HardBoilder, and then into Aquarion Double)

_DUB-B-X! Saikou no PARTNER deau toki/DUB-B-X when I meet the ultimate Partner_

(Mikono and Zessica reached out to Amata as they fell from the sky, with Amata catching them before all three transformed into a silhouetted new Double)

_Kiseki okoru (SO WE CAN MAKE IT)/A miracle will happen_

_DOUBLE wo sagase!/Search for Double!_

(The new Double flew across the Neo-Deava group before the three main Aquarions took its place)

_DUB-B-X CRIME AND THE CITY!_

(Aquarion Double, CycloneJoker form, did the signature pose before the title appeared once more)

(Music ends)

**_A/N: Whew, there's officially the beginning of my first official project – the first meeting of Aquarion and the Kamen Riders, along with Kingdom Hearts! What does this mean for Amata and everyone else to come? Well, that's the mystery! So read on, and leave reviews, readers!_**

**_Just to recap, I only own Alex, nothing more, nothing less! All other elements belong to their original owners!_**

**_On that note, I must extend thanks to the authors Newbie-Spud and ngrey651, whose works inspired me to take this foray into the rising stars of Asian entertainment! Kudos to your stories and wonderful characters, fellas!_**

**_Until then, see ya later, readers!_**


	3. D on the Horizon, part 1

_Chapter 3: D on the Horizon/Omens of the Impact_

Within the official medical ward of the Neo-Deava complex, various examiners had crowded around the apparatus that housed the still-sleeping Amata Sora. As both a precautionary measure for his unique abilities and an attempt to probe his memories for information about Aquarion, they had him set up in an X-ray chamber to keep him down for the procedure. Overlooking all of this were the three leaders of Neo-Deava – Donar Dantes, Suomi Konepi, and the Principal himself, all anxious to find out more about this new Wild Card. From an outside observation deck, though, were the few people that were too curious – or close to Amata – to leave the situation as it was. That same crowd happened to be Zessica, Cayenne, Mikono, Andy, and MIX.

Thoroughly annoyed at the comatose kid that he saw as the reason his little sister was here to begin with, Cayenne just snorted in disgust before he turned to Mikono. "Alright, what the Hell did that kid do?"

"I-I don't know, actually" Mikono admitted, "but I feel like no matter what, we can trust Amata-kun!"

"You don't even KNOW the bastard, Mikono!" her brother admonished at once. "Hell, there's no telling what he could really be! The fact that he tampered with the Aquaria proves it!"

"Oi!" Zessica stopped him, "I, for one, think that we should thank him for helping us at all!" Turning away slightly, she quietly added "Especially with that cool armor and heroic attitude of his…kya~!" with a dreamy sigh. If anyone noticed, they didn't outwardly voice it.

"Even so!" MIX continued the conversation, "Cayenne-san _does _have a point. That boy has the power to actually reformat Aquaria – I mean, Aquarion, so this is the only way we can all confirm a lack of hostility on his part. Until that time, we must all consider him an Element to be detained at once!" she concluded. Despite knowing Amata better – even IF they met just yesterday – Mikono chose to hold her tongue.

Letting the silent anticipation take control of the atmosphere, she just looked at Amata with the utmost apprehension. She knew, on a level that transcended logic and common sense, that he needed more than just more probing.

The Gattai was able to tell her this much: Amata, for all of his confident smiles and wily actions in battle, still had a lot to hide.

'Amata-kun…please be okay, and…don't be afraid to tell me the truth.'

As if to answer her, the equipment housing Amata was suddenly bathed in green light. Simultaneously, warning signs about the Vectors started blaring, everyone in an uproar about the freak occurrence. Looking on, clad in a new disguise, was probably the only person who actually understood what was going on. Smirking slightly, Zen Fudo silently clapped his hands, reciting this:

"And thus, the first step of the journey begins…"

* * *

><p>Black oblivion. As far as he could tell, that was all there was around him. And just after a few seconds, Amata was already going stir-crazy.<p>

'Come on…' he pleaded something, ANYTHING, to end the monotony of his surroundings. 'Let me do something…let me do what I need to already…!'

_**Patience is not something to waste, young one.**_

The strange echo managed to snap Amata awake in surprise. Getting focused, he saw himself drifting down onto something as though he were dropping through water. Righting his body into a standing position, Amata was surprised to see what he assumed to be the floor vanish in a flock of doves, until light spilled out from beneath him. Daring to take a peek, he saw something that really put his nerves into high-gear.

Underneath him was a circular, stained-glass platform that depicted him, asleep, against a background that had two different entities – Aquarion and that strange enemy mecha, only far more armor-like and organic in appearance – staring each other down in that same valley of swords from his visions. It didn't take long for Amata to draw a conclusion as to where he was. "This…this is an Awakening!" he realized. "But…what does this all mean? Why am I even here!"

_**This means that it is time for the Truth to be set free.**_

Again, Amata jumped at the voice casually appearing. To his further shock, the black expanse around him was suddenly filled to the brim with ancient tomes of all shapes and sizes, all of them bearing the same insignia: A heart surrounding a representation of the World Arcana. Despite the new look, he immediately drew another conclusion – "The Gaia Library!?" No voice answered him, which did Amata a favor by proving his suspicions. However, it also brought up another dilemma he might face:

"If I have access to the Library...doesn't that mean-?!"

_**To truly begin the journey, you must first understand the real power that sleeps within you.**_

Before him, Amata saw three pedestals rise from the ground in a triangular formation. On those same pedestals lay a sword, a shield, and a staff. All of these, as Amata remembered, were representative of the paths one could take to manifest their hearts' strengths – the Warrior, the Guardian, and the Mystic.

_**Choose your new beginning, Amata Sora. Your journey towards this world's ultimate fate – and any chance towards finding the truth – begins at the dawn.**_

Smirking in spite of himself, Alex calmly walked towards the center of the Station of his Awakening. Now that he was facing this in reality, he could do things well out of the boundaries the original Kingdom Hearts game had set for the heroes of the Keyblade. Deep in his heart, he knew what he already desired. Collecting himself, he raised his hand to the heavens and cried,

"I forsake no power here! Invincible courage, All-embracing kindness, Inner strength…I cannot, I will _never_ leave anything behind! THAT…is my only way!"

In response, the three weapons flew into the air above him and started spinning together into a new form. After the whining pitch of the twister ended and the lights dimmed out, Amata saw a new weapon in their place. Forming from the trinity, an entire arm's worth of Joker-esque armor and chainmail presented itself to him. Following this, the voice announced to him the nature and possibilities of his new weapon:

_**A hand of the Wild Card….**_

_**The only tool capable of both creation and destruction…**_

_**Cast between light and dark…**_

_**With chains linked to the keys…**_

Slowly, Amata mumbled the words "So this is…the Chain…gauntlet?" Gathering his wits, Amata called to his new weapon – by instinct, he already knew the name of this particular weapon: the Trump Card, much like the form it was based off of.

Now bearing the arm-only pieces of armor, Alex took a few steps forward before he encountered some enemies at last. Rising up from the floor, a small squad of Neoshadows – the far more humanoid of the natural Heartless enemies – stood between him and the pathway toward the next station. Despite his nervousness, Amata didn't let himself slip up as the pitch-black demons attacked. With speed and instincts he didn't know he had, he had already slashed one quarter of the enemies into oblivion before he spun around, knocking down several more with his feet outstretched in a move Amata remembered from his many hours of movies and other martial arts. More confident than before, he dashed through with concentrated winds slicing them apart, immensely glad that he was closer to the goal.

Going further into his Awakening, Amata noticed a trend amongst the enemies he faced – instead of looking as cartoonish as the Kingdom Hearts games made them out to be, the blackened Heartless, ghostly Nobodies, and even chaotic Unversed seemed…more primal, malevolent, and _definitely _darker than he'd like to admit. In fact, they all reminded him uncomfortably of things straight out of Tim Burton movies – except they didn't have even a shred of humor within them. It certainly didn't help his nerves any when intangible liquids spilled out every time he slew one of the various creatures.

'I'm really getting deep into this,' Amata worried, 'if the bad guys start suggesting even a remote trace of having blood…' Shaking his head to rid himself of that dark thought, he pushed himself onward, knowing well enough that the final challenge was about to commence.

Reaching what he assumed to be his own Station of Awakening, Amata set himself in a ready stance. Not a moment too soon, the whole platform started quaking, with the Chaingauntlet-wielder nearly losing his footing as a dark hand clutched the edges. Pulling itself onto the platform was a pitch-black giant with a heart-shaped hole in its stomach area, the only lights on it being its yellow eyes. Amata panicked then and there – it was the major Heartless boss, the Darkside! Having to fight it was a challenge in and of itself!

Without warning, the Darkside plowed its fist towards where Amata was just scant seconds ago, the boy rushing onto its hand and leaping with as much strength as he could muster. With a vicious combo of several slashes from his gauntlet and wind-blades ending with powerful snap-kick, Amata managed to damage the Heartless boss well enough. Flipping onto its head and gripping one of the monster's locks of hair with all his might, he landed a few more punches before the Darkside had had enough. With a leap Amata didn't think was possible for the behemoth, the Darkside punched the Station hard enough to send it spinning in place – and Amata with it, since he lost his grasp when the punch landed.

Falling in the space above the pillar of his Awakening, Amata was treated to the sight of even more enemies – the white, armored titan known as the Twilight Thorn, and the smaller, Devil-like, hammer-swinging beast known as the Iron Imprisoner.

"It's the entire friggin' Boss Squad!" Amata exclaimed angrily, just as the two bosses let loose a combined orb of destructive energy. Before he could do anything, though, Amata felt a strange tingling in his nerves – an impulse waiting to awaken. Letting it take over, Amata found himself flipping in the air, gathering emerald energy within his right hand, and flinging a gigantic wheel of wind shaped oddly like a chakram right into the blast! The explosion was enough to send all three combatants back onto the platform, Amata having a crunching sensation far less extensive than that of the bosses. As he rose, Amata then realized what he had just done – he used a Reaction Command! The concept was certainly awe-inspiring in reality.

Following his rising, Amata now found himself staring down the Darkside, Twilight Thorn, and the Iron Imprisoner all at once. Letting his breaths pump out the fear in his system, Amata just took one look at all of them – and flashed forward, feeling another Reaction forming in his systems. As the Iron Imprisoner swung its burning hammer, Amata grabbed it and immediately went into a furious twister, bashing the Darkside and Twilight Thorn several times in the frenzy. Taking the hammer one last time, Amata channeled the full power of his Trump Card Chaingauntlet, a gust of wind and a ghostly image of Kamen Rider Joker forming on either ends of the hammerhead.

With a cry of "Bring all to the Light!", Amata slammed the hammer down, taking all three of the bosses in one blow. As soon as they had gone, multiple thoughts raced through Amata's mind: One, he had actually managed to beat ALL of the major boss-class enemies, even the Iron Imprisoner! Two, he then soberly realized, their defeat usually meant one thing – a VERY rude push back into reality. No sooner than he thought it, the Darkside, Twilight Thorn, and Iron Imprisoner all perished in haze of light and dark flame, enveloping everything in the Twilight – including Amata.

_**Remember, Amata Sora…**_

Amata started falling asleep, and back into the real world.

_**You have the hands that can build – and unlock – the paths towards the Truth of this new legend.**_

* * *

><p>Scrambling to take the convulsing boy out of the X-ray apparatus, the staff then rushed to take Amata to the emergency room. Seeing this, Mikono made a mad dash to follow them, ignoring her brother's cries for her to wait. With no other choice, the others pursued the trauma team close behind.<p>

Not too long after, everyone short of Mikono and Zessica had situated themselves outside of the room where Amata was currently recuperating at, with the two girls in question looking over the young man as he slept. All he needed was some tranquilizer, apparently, and he'd be able to sleep his pain off until the next day. Kindly dismissing the others, the doctors and teachers at hand then nodded knowingly to the two girls before they left.

Thus, for quite some time, Mikono and Zessica could only keep a careful, worried watch over the new Kamen Rider Double as he slept, occasionally groaning and twisting in his sleep. For Mikono, she felt nothing but the utmost concern for Amata, considering just how hard he must have pushed himself to push that Abductor as far back as he did. And despite her being more curious about the powers displayed earlier, Zessica felt the same about the boy that had pretty much saved all of their lives by himself. Let anything be said about her unique habits and styles, but Zessica Wong was not one that left debts and thanks go unpaid.

For a while, the two females were in an awkward quit until Zessica started asking Mikono questions.

"So...what's your story with Golden Rookie here?"

Looking at the green-haired girl Element, Mikono just responded with "We just met a few hours ago, actually...I was just trying to push out my thoughts about Suzushiro business when I found that movie theater Amata-kun was working in. Then I met him, and...well, you saw what happened, right?" She finished with an embarrassed smile.

Answering with an 'ah' of acknowledgment, Zessica then turned back to the sleeping young man between them, noting how he was now laying rather peacefully in his slumber. This image of him was certainly interesting - back then, he was a dynamo of fighting prowess and energy, almost like a hurricane actually. But now...now he seemed just like someone no different than anyone else around here, somebody dropped headfirst into an incredible set of circumstances and ultimately scared and desperate.

Being an Element User also meant that you had to have a strong understanding of the human mind and heart, and Zessica made sure not to disappoint. But here? She was certain that nobody could have really prepared for something like this.

Beyond that, though, the green-haired bombshell then noticed that Mikono had then taken Amata's right hand in both of hers, setting her face with steely determination.

"Amata-kun...just stay strong! I...I know that I might not be strong enough, but I want to help you! You're already fighting hard - so please, let me protect _you_!" With this, she brought his hand to her forehead, leaning down as well. "You're not alone!"

Seeing this, Zessica then went over to the other girl and piled her hands on as well, giving her a reassuring smile before sitting back down again. "Keep showing us what you got, kid!"

And now, all they could do was wait for the new hero in their midst to come back to wakefulness.

* * *

><p>As he stirred himself awake, Amata's first thought were, strangely enough, this:<p>

"Never. Drinking. Again!"

Working himself to stand upright, Amata's first sight was of two bodies laying on the bed he was in, their arms forming pillows for their heads as they slept.

"Mikono and that other girl? What are they doing here?"

Trying to wake the two, Amata's movements inadvertently stirred the bed's covers up. With that, both Mikono and Zessica awoke, albeit a bit groggy at first. They then turned to look at the orange-haired young man, who smiled a bit before greeting them.

"Err...good morning to both of you, ladies!"

Blinking the last bits of sleep out of their eyes, Mikono and Zessica both turned to look at Amata. With Mikono, though, she slowly widened her eyes until she launched herself onto Amata.

"_AMATA-KUN!_"

"**BWAUGH!**"

Turning to the girl that was now hugging the life out of him, Amata struggled to voice his indignation (as best as he could, at any rate).

"Mikono-san-! The hell're - are you trying to kill me here?!"

She responded with a muffled cry, and though Amata knew - well, could guess - what Mikono was saying based on her actions, he still asked for some clarification. The purple-haired Suzushiro then looked up at him, eyes bleary but bearing a bitter, probably scolding, smirk.

"I-I said" she started, before she hiccuped a bit and continued, " I said that you still have a lot to answer for, you great big dummy!" She then got off of him, although she still gave him a _very_ stern look, which shut any further attempts from Amata to speak.

"Heh," Zessica's voice brought Amata and Mikono to look at her. "Looks like the big bad Guardian Angel is actually a big softy when a girl presses her finger on him, eh Miko-nyan?"

If he didn't know any better (although he was sure it was a trick of his mind, though), Amata could've sworn that he saw the green-haired girl sprout a spaded tail that wiggled in mischief, complimented by its master's rather cat-like smile. At what she insinuated, Mikono started blushing slightly while Amata just applied his hand to his face with a groan of annoyance.

"Do you realize you have about as much subtlety as a brick to the face?" the redhead deadpanned as he looked to the other girl.

Shrugging it off, the green-haired Element simply stated "Meh, I've dealt with worse." But she then straightened out, looking at Amata with an expression that was surprisingly resolute. Closing her eyes, she then smiled before she extended a hand to the Memory User. "All that aside, I want to really thank you for saving our hides back there. So, welcome to Neo-Deava, rookie!"

"_Rookie_?" Amata repeated incredulously. "I gave that moron the martial arts beatdown of the century, and you call me a _rookie?!_" Slumping against the bed in depression, he moaned "Why can't the good guys get any respect...?"

Blinking at the boy's reaction, both Mikono and Zessica looked to each other, and then back to him, before they started laughing a bit at how Amata had his feathers ruffled. This, of course, brought the boy to groan even more.

"Even you, Mikono-san?" Amata slumped even more, both of his hands palming his face.

"Aw, come on, Golden Boy!" Zessica then playfully bonked the young Rider's head before she got up. "Here I thought you could handle a little teasing here and there!"

All she got in response was Amata setting his face into a flat look, with an unamused eyebrow raised.

Looking at his expression, though, Mikono once again assumed a rather hard look before she too got up, adding "We're going to need a talk, mister. And no, you are _not_ avoiding it!"

Nervously nodding at the violet-haired girl's tone, Amata scrambled out of the bed and stood about-face, looking to the other two for anything else.

Blinking at how quickly Amata caved in to the other girl's scolding, Zessica just started walking out before she gestured to the both of them to follow her. It seemed like there had been enough laughs for now.

Thus, the trio went on through Neo-Deava's Holy Angel Academy, occasionally striking up some conversations here and there. And, dare Amata say it, the whole thing almost felt...normal.

Hell, if he just ignored the whole futuristic world scenario and the fact that he had become Kamen Rider Double, Amata could have very well lived this whole thing as a normal part of life! Walking through school, living the days with friends...it almost seemed too good to last!

"Um...hey, what was your name again, Miss...?"

"Zessica Wong." the girl in question answered without missing a beat.

"Thank you - and, well, where are we going exactly?"

Turning to him, Zessica gave him the most reassuring face she could muster before she answered with this:

"You're gonna have to talk to the Principal - I mean, Commander about what happened yesterday, especially considering that you pretty much hijacked the Aquaria unit like that. Don't worry" she hastily added, "they're not trying anything drastic!"

"...I wasn't really thinking about it, but thanks for the images anyway." Amata responded, sighing as he prepared himself for what was basically an interrogation.

"Ah, give'em a break, Zess-chan!" a new voice cut in, a hand clapping onto Amata's right shoulder and surprising all three Elements. "This kid practically demolished that Abductor commander! If anything, we all should be thanking him, not terrorizing him!"

Turning around to see who defended him, Amata saw a guy that reminded him a lot of Junpei Iori from the Persona series - his clart-eating grin, brown eyes, and beanie helped the comparison.

"Sup, newbie! I'm Andy W. Hol, or Andy for short. Don't worry about the grouches in charge of Neo-DEAVA - they're pretty much all bark and no bite if you play nice with 'em. So, there's nothing to worry about!"

"I'd love to continue this conversation," an older voice than any of them interrupted, "but it's time Mr. Sora officially discussed the nature of his powers." Appearing was a military man who seemed to have incredibly-advanced robotic arms.

"Donar Dantes. I'll be escorting you to the meeting. You three can come along as well." With his mark, everyone made way towards the council room – at least, that's what Amata assumed. As they went though, the orangette mulled over what he should disclose to the top brass of Neo-DEAVA.

He certainly didn't want to break the news that an even larger war was waiting for them, somehow.

* * *

><p>As he stood in what was equal parts interrogation and trial ("I think it is, if the nun means anything," Amata thought aloud as he saw Ms. Suomi, much to her and Mikono's chagrin and Zessica's amusement - which earned him a bop on the head from the younger Suzushiro), Amata found the three officials of Neo-DEAVA and some of the Elements staring at him expectantly. Despite looking calm on the surface, Amata was an entire army of shot nerves on the inside. Here and now he was, right in the middle of a possibly-ongoing war, and now he just happened to turn everything these people knew right on its head! How was he going to explain himself without looking like a lunatic?<p>

"As I'm sure all of those present are aware of," Dantes started, "events in which the Aquaria itself had been altered have struck at the most inopportune of times." Looking at Amata critically, he continued with "And, as of now, the only leads we have regarding this phenomenon lie in your hands, Mr. Sora. So," Dantes stepped up to him, every bit intimidating up close as he appeared to be, "what exactly _IS_ this…"Double"?"

Drawing a breath before he could speak, Amata responded with "Well, to answer that, I'll first have to introduce you to the items that create the power of Double." Taking out the Memories he learned he had, Amata displayed them to the entire room. "These two objects are the core of what Double is and what it can become – Gaia Memories."

"A bunch of USB Drives give Aquarion all that power?" one of the other Elements asked in disbelief. "You can't honestly expect us to believe that, do you?"

"Don't underestimate these things even for a moment!" Amata objected. "Gaia Memories…" he elaborated, "…are basically shards of this entire world's own heart Memories, hence their name and shape. For you see," Alex paused to let his next words sink in, "these objects can literally transform whoever uses them into either a warrior…or a monster."

"EH?" most of the persons present gaped in shock. Something so small could actually be so dangerous as to mutate a human being into a living weapon? These things were surely too dangerous to leave alone!

"S-so…" Zessica worked up the nerve to ask, taking out her own Memory, "does this mean these things bring nothing but trouble?"

Looking at the Heat Memory, Amata was understandably surprised, but he caught himself and stated, "No, no, the Memories can be good to have if you use them responsibly. In fact, Gaia Memories like these" he gestured to both of his Memories and Zessica's own, "can be used only with an external device. That way, they can be even more powerful."

"How so?" Ms. Suomi inquired, now fully curious about the Gaia Memories.

"Aside from helping the user cope with the information being fed into their bodies," Alex said, "Memory Drivers can also give enough energy to certain objects - like, say, a robot compatible with them", for some reason, the Mammoth mecha from the Double and Decade Movie came to mind, "to last a pretty long while, up to a decade if I remember."

"And what was that you said about these Memories being able to turn people into monsters?" Sergeant Dantes came in, his mechanical arms tingling with his sense of foreboding.

"Ah - I'm glad you asked that; this is where it gets complicated." Setting the two Memories down, Amata then asked Zessica to lend him her Heat Memory, before continuing his explanation. "Even if they're refined, Gaia Memories can still be used in a more...direct method. Truth is, I'm not even sure if they can still be used that way, but..." He looked at the red Memory in hand, "We'll have to take that risk."

With that, he attempted to place it on his left arm like a syringe, testing to see if the Memory would act on its own. To his half-surprise, the Heat Memory actually burned a USB port-shaped tattoo onto his skin as it got closer - a Living Connector.

"WHOA!" Malloy, the other part of the Type-M Aquaria team alongside Cayenne and Andy, exclaimed, even as the rest joined him with gasps or shouts. "What is that thing on your skin?"

Grimacing as he took the Memory away, Amata then answered with "If I were to touch that Living Connector tattoo with a Gaia Memory, the Memory would've inserted itself right into my DNA, changing my body in the process and leaving behind a kaijin with the full power of an entire word behind it - a Dopant."

Blinking several times in shock, the Commander then reasserted order with a cough before he spoke up. "You may carry on, Mr. Sora."

"Thank you. On the other hand, Gaia Memories can be used with what's called a 'Driver' to either negate their more harmful effects, or form a suit of powered armor over the user. In doing the latter, the user actually becomes a much deadlier opponent able to use more than one function or Memory- a warrior most like to call a 'Kamen Rider'".

"But wait," Andy interrupted, "I noticed one more thing – both of your Memories are based around the words "Cyclone" and "Joker", right?"

Amata nodded, pleasantly surprised that someone caught onto the significance of the words.

"So considering the fact that the Gaia Memories are basically pure physical manifestations of the world's own database, would that mean there's a Memory for every word out there?"

As Amata considered it, he suddenly paled, imagining the graver implications of those words. "Actually, now that we're on that topic, there's something I have to ask all of you." With everyone's attention, he then asked, "Has there been sightings of anything even remotely…unexplainable?"

"So you begin to grasp the greater mysteries, young Amata!" a voice suddenly proclaimed from behind Amata, said boy leaping some impressive distance before everyone saw Zen Fudo.

"High Commander Zen Fudo!" the Commander exclaimed before he saluted. Donar and Suomi, however, didn't follow - this was the first time they had even seen the enigmatic right-hand man of Neo-DEAVA's equally mysterious Chairman.

"Indeed, there have been many strange phenomena unrelated to the Abductors as of late." Fudo stated, reminding Amata a lot of the cryptic – but certainly friendly – Owner from the Kamen Rider Den-O series. "But now that Amata has appeared, this can only mean one thing for all of us, even the Abductors!"

"…A-and what, exactly, is THAT?" Amata blurted out, paranoia growing even stronger in his heart.

Dramatically posing with his hands in their infamous pose, Zen proclaimed "The REAL battle for this world – as well as many others – has only just begun!"

And that was all Amata needed to hear to confirm his deepest fears: He wasn't the only one with powers from the World of Riders on this planet.

* * *

><p>Back in Neo-Kowloon, a small detachment of suited men met with their new employer in an alleyway, looking at the suitcase he had handed to them.<p>

"Will this _really_ change the way things work around this place, pal? Doesn't look all that much to me," the first goon surmised skeptically.

"I understand your doubts, gentlemen, but believe me," the mysterious boss assured them, "these babies are _certain_ to redefine both this world and that of Altair. But, I can also expect more skepticism on your part, so," he then took a rib-covered USB out, "I'll be happy to show what this product can do."

And the night's quiet was pierced with a mechanical, sinister cry of "**CARD!**"

Soon enough, many cries of "**MASQUERADE!**" followed, finished by "**TRIGGER!**"

Indeed, the small skirmish between Aquarion and the Abductors…had officially become a whole new war.

* * *

><p><strong>Usual Disclaimers apply, and it'll be some time before the next update. So, read and review!<strong>


	4. D on the Horizon, part 2

_Chapter 4: D on the Horizon/Gamblers of Fate_

_Author's note: _

_To my readers, I'm terribly sorry about the delays. It HAS been a heck of a while since my last update, but school, ideas, and life have been getting in the way. Don't worry though – hopefully, new chapters will be getting in at much shorter intervals from here on, so just hold on and keep reviewing as always!_

Just a few minutes after discussing the Gaia Memories with Neo-DEAVA, Amata was already having a nervous breakdown.

Then again, having pretty much _no_ real resources whatsoever in preparing for a long-term conflict with monsters straight out of a tokusatsu drama like Kamen Rider could do that to most people – _'Ah, there I go again,'_ the redhead thought to himself in self-depreciation, _'leading myself in circles.' _

So, while mostly everybody else prepared either for another day of school – which, now that he thought about it, seemed too normal to be related with a war against a fleet of alien machines – or just working at Neo-DEAVA, Amata was now pacing along the entirety of the school campus trying to build a plan of attack for what else might come Vega's way. Well, that and trying to figure out more about his sudden transformation using Aquarion as his body.

It was certainly the first time he'd ever seen a mecha being used as a body for a superhero like a Kamen Rider. And considering that he had used Aquarion of all bots – the 'Mechanical Angel' as it was called – he certainly had reasons for concern.

Of course, Amata must have been at it for quite a while – when he finally stopped to get some rest, he realized that it was already sunset, and he was quite a ways away from the main body of the Academy building. And, to his further dismay, he really had no idea about where to go from here.

Simply put, he was lost.

'_Smooth move,_ jackass_.'_ Amata berated himself as he slapped his forehead with an angry palm. _'Only an idiot would have gone and gotten himself lost in unfamiliar territory – and you did it. Well,'_ he then turned around, _'the best thing to do would probably be retracing my steps. It's better than waiting around till tomorrow.'_

And that would've been how he got back if he didn't notice that guy from before – ah, right, Andy W. Hol – doing something with the ground on the boy's side. In fact, it looked like he was digging! With his curiosity piqued, Amata walked on over to the sizable hole the official Element had already dug and announced his presence.

"Yo, Andy! Fancy seeing you here!"

"Huh?" Andy then poked his head out of the hole, before his eyes landed on Amata. "Oh, hey, Amata! Didn't think you'd be here at this time of the day!"

"I don't think I should be, actually." Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, he then added "Truth is, I think I'm lost."

Silence. Then….

"….pwahahaha! Yeah, I'd figured you'd do that on your first day. And without anybody to tell you where to go too…." Andy then shrugged before he waved it off. "Well, as long as you're here, I might as well invite you along. So, come on down, Digger Bro! The road of hope awaits us!"

"Digger Bro?" Amata quirked an eyebrow in confusion, before the rest of Andy's sentence came to him. "Wait, the road of hope? Hope for _what_?"

Andy's grin held as much ambition and mischief as Amata could've seen on anybody else – which usually meant one thing:

"Simple – to the girls' side of the Academy!"

And there it is, proving Amata's suspicions right.

"So what about it, man? Ready to find the light of bliss at the end of the tunnel we'll dig?" the beanie-wearing Element offered his hand in brotherhood, looking like he and the redhead were off to a whole new frontier.

"….." Amata looked flatly at him, eyebrows betraying his thoughts about the idea _('This is gonna land him in trouble, I know it!'_) before he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Very well, but I'm only doing this to help your ass out of trouble – and yes, there _will_ be plenty of it if you're not careful, trust me!"

"AWRIGHT!" Andy cheered, going back down the hole as Amata followed, "the Digger Brothers officially start tonight!" Not even hesitating, Andy plunged his hands, now glowing with yellow light, before he took a perfect circle of dirt out of the wall that made the back of the cave they were in.

"This is your Element power – making perfect holes in the dirt?" Amata blinked at the display.

"Not just the dirt – wherever there are weak spots crying out, I come to answer their desires!" Andy proudly proclaimed. "That's my pride as an adventurer!"

Amata could only chuckle at the act – at least Andy was passionate about what he did. The fact that there were already a few buckets filled with earth, a lantern plus flashlights, and an extra shovel in the tunnel space showed that Andy could plan ahead, at least.

"Come on, bro!" Andy then started digging again, making more progress as Amata joined him in earnest. "Paradise awaits us!"

'_Or a whole lot of trouble that could land us both in jail,_' Amata snarked.

* * *

><p>A bit later after they started, Andy and Amata were now, according to the former, right underneath the grounds of the girls' side.<p>

"This is it bro!" Andy whispered to Amata in barely contained excitement. "You ready to see the part of heaven known as girl Element country?"

"That and getting the f*&^ outta dodge if we're caught." Amata replied, rolling his amethyst orbs.

"Ah, you worry too much!" Andy bounced back. "Let's get ready to rock! WOOO!"

He plunged his hands into the soil above them, causing it to glow with his Element aura and bulge outwards until it burst apart. Helping Amata up, Andy then declared,

"And so we've thrust our way in!" He then shook hands with Amata, his hand meeting Amata's with a rather loud clap.

Said clap managed to draw the attention of a certain cat and his owner, who just happened to have her back to the two guys.

The two sides met – one happening to unintentionally look up the other's legs and….well, the situation speaks for itself.

"M-Mikono-san?..." Amata sputtered weakly. _'Oh_ hell_….' _

"Ah…." the girl then flushed red before she turned away with a screech. "UWAAAAAH!"

"…Oops." Andy supplied, nearly scrambling back himself. Unfortunately, his actions accidentally brushed up a cloud of dust and soil, most of which landed into poor Amata's nose.

And worst of all, Amata's Alex self happened to be allergic to dust.

"Ah…AH…_AAAH_…._**CHOOOO!**_"

With a sneeze that seemed more like a cannon blast in terms of force, Amata actually managed to send himself flying into the air – with Mikono literally right on top of his head!

"EEEYAAAAH!" Mikono screamed, due to both the two of them suddenly flying and Amata's head pushing right into….well, that could go without saying. "Let me down! Let me _dooooown_!" she cried, pounding her fists on Amata's head.

"Ow! Hey wait – oww! Mikono-san, hold on, I can't help either of us like this!" Amata protested as the violet-haired girl struggled on top of him. "You've gotta change position first!"

"But _how?!_" she yelled at him, just as they began to slow down.

"Just drop down and trust me!" he replied.

Mikono did just that, and Amata just embraced her, acting as a shield for her body. And not a moment too soon – they were now both dropping back onto the ground, which was pretty damn far away!

"_HOLD ON!_" was Amata's last words before they met the dirt.

CROOOSH!

Both of the two soon-to-be Elements crashed onto the ground before bouncing and rolling quite a bit, though Mikono was spared most of the damage thanks to Amata shielding her. After a few heart-pounding moments, they finally rolled to a stop – with Mikono on top of a bruised and battered Amata, almost like a day before.

Struggling to stay conscious, Amata crooned his neck to face Mikono before he gave a defeated grin. "Sorry for the trouble."

And then he fell into unconsciousness once again, not hearing Mikono's concerned cries.

* * *

><p>At an unknown distance away from Vega, the red planet Altair hung about as it desperately raced to preserve itself.<p>

Unknown to the inhabitants of Vega, Altair's population was actually on the brink of collapse – by unknown circumstances, the majority of females on the entire planet started dying out, to the point that the remaining few had to be put into stasis to ensure their safety as well as the future of Altair. With the threat of extinction hanging over their shoulders, Altair's government ultimately had to resort to finding any and every female capable of surviving not only the transportation via Dimension Gate, but also this "Curse of Eve" – Rare Iguras, as the Altians called them.

Thus, the Abductors came to be for the people of Vega.

Kagura Demuri, though, had more pressing matters to deal with as of the moment.

Not long after recovering from his battle against the Mechanical Angel, the wild redhead snuck out of his quarters in the hospital and made a run for the hideout he had built over the course of his ten years on Altair.

He knew for a fact that something was up with everything about and around him – he ultimately remembered nothing about his life before a decade ago, and he had plenty of doubts about how Altair handled their relations (or lack of) with Vega. Hell, as far as he was concerned, Altair was probably better off left to die if it had to resort to Abducting people – the last thing anybody needed was an interstellar war.

That was the real reason he acted the way he did – as long as he played the beast that acted on the Altian military's leash, everybody else would give him a wide berth. Nobody else aside from Commander Izumo would even look at him, and thus they'd be out of the line of fire.

Even with all of his flaws, chief among them a desperate need for any _real_ sense of family, Kagura still had enough standards to not want anybody else be involved with that bastard Mykage Towano.

The pretty boy with white feathers for hair was a monster in every sense of the word, and Kagura knew it. When he wasn't under Izumo's eye, Mykage spent most of Kagura's childhood systematically screwing the young boy over – torture, abuse, or even mental images of horrors that would have otherwise created a seriously twisted individual.

And yet for all of that effort – not that Kagura was stupid enough to let it show in front of the bastard – Mykage hadn't really broken the redhead into becoming his personal attack dog, at best.

Though Kagura himself wasn't really aware of the hows and whys, he was beyond grateful for the dreams he had had over his ten years on Altair – if Mykage trapped him in a cage of rose thorns, his mind would call back to memory one of countless unique figures from the folds of his dreams. From that boisterous tattooed swordsman to the caring, but steel-spined sharpshooting woman, someone or something born from his memories would come back to help him hold on to his sanity and his heart.

Even though he knew – or rather, found out – that most of these people were either already long gone or not real, he still had the utmost respect and gratitude for their being there for him. They all helped him become a better person – better understanding of people, and in this case, better prepared.

"Things are really starting, huh?" He muttered to himself as he drew the tarpaulin that hid his hideout to the side before closing it behind him. As he looked back at it, Kagura knew, just _knew_, that all of this would finally pay off in the end – and whatever happened, it would all lead back to the Mechanical Angel, Aquarion.

And he was pretty sure that only he knew the real truth – ironically enough, through the same dreams that he learned were of fictional characters. Apollo, Silvia and Sirius, Baron, Reika – all of these people were at the center of the real flow of events concerning twelve-thousand years ago, not Apollon and Sylvie as everyone else remembered them. Furthermore, he was also aware of the new power aiding them – the first of the 'Neo-Heisei' generation of legendary heroes, warriors known as…Kamen Riders.

More importantly, though, and Kagura knew this well, whoever brought the powers of the Gaia Memories into the equation also had a significant part to play in helping Altair get back on the right course. For now, though, he had to stay back as another cog of the Altian military machine – but, hopefully, not for much longer.

Looking at the one lone Memory he had in his possession, Kagura then tapped back into the well of energy he had discovered, once again 'diving' into Altair's own energy network. Another day of trying to root out anything that could've been harming the planet – but with one new change:

'_You're not the only one trying to find the truth, kid._' Kagura thought back to what that Double guy said about his new mission. '_But wait just a little longer._'

'_Nothing is ever hidden away without a reason….._'

* * *

><p>Waking up, Amata once again found himself in the Academy medical center. And just like before, he found Mikono dozing to the side, breathing softly as she slept. He couldn't help but break a grin at the sight. "Ever the fretful one, eh Mikono-san?"<p>

"Hmm?" the younger Suzushiro muttered as she blinked her eyes awake, before she then turned to Amata. She looked happily relieved for a moment before she then frowned, even crossing her arms in a scolding gesture. For all intents and purposes, she was certainly upset – but Amata couldn't figure if it was his breaking into the girls' side, looking up her skirt, or using himself as a human shield. Probably all three, or a combination of some sort.

Her stare probably would've worked if she didn't have her face set in a pout, which only highlighted how cute she could be. But then again, her eyes did have some steel to them, and Amata certainly knew better than to give others more reason to be angry and worried about him. So, for the time being, he shut up once he said, "May I say that I'm honestly sorry for what happened last night?"

"And….?" Mikono suggested, though the redhead couldn't figure out what else she wanted from him.

"What else is there to apologize for?"

"What else is there to apologize for?" she repeated incredulously. "How could you have possibly brushed off the fact that you _blatantly pushed yourself headfirst into danger without even thinking about it?!_" she added as she slammed her hands onto the bed, which startled Amata enough to get him scrambling away. Now she was really ticked – and, well….maybe he should've expected this, actually. In hindsight, what he did was pretty reckless….

But it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, really. And it wasn't like he could've done anything else…

"I-It's not like I could've done anything else!" he hastily argued, waving his hands in a placating manner.

"Oh?" Mikono – rather uncharacteristically – drawled, her eyebrow raised in a lack of amusement. "And I suppose you couldn't utilize your Gaia Memories like last time? HMM?"

Amata blinked, then stopped with his words frozen. "Oh….right." he answered sheepishly.

Mikono started getting angry again, then let loose an explosive sigh of exasperation. "If this is really how you act normally, then I'll be honest;" she then deadpanned at him: "You're an idiot."

Amata fell forward at the remark. '_So cruel!_'

But to his surprise, Mikono then affectionately bonked him on the head, even saying "But it looks like you're _my_ idiot to take care of."

"Wait – what?" Amata cried out, disbelieving what she just said. "I am _not_ that bad! Honestly!" he added.

"That's not exactly something we can be sure of, as of this moment." Professor Dantes's voice interrupted Amata's line of thought. Both of the main occupants turned to see Professor Dantes himself, alongside Miss Suomi as well as Andy, Zessica, and the really bitter-looking guy with the navy/black hair from the first battle.

"In light of the situations at hand, coupled with the….incident last night," he directed a glare at Andy, then at Amata, "The best course of action would be for one of our senior Elements to act as Overseer for you alongside Miss Suzushiro." Dantes then turned to Zessica.

"Until we can tell otherwise, you are to act as Mister Sora's official guide and custodian. That is, if you do not object, Miss Wong."

And as if he didn't feel like a moron already, Amata felt even more blows to his ego when Zessica actually smiled it off. "Eh, I'm okay with it. Heck, it might even be fun!" She even added a cat's grin to her sentence!

Amata could only palm his face in despair.

Mikono sighed as well. "You really must be an idiot to need two sane girls in your life, Amata-_kun_." she said with another sigh of suffering as she pointed another glare at Amata.

And with that, Amata gave up and collapsed back onto the bed, _double_-facepalming himself as he willed himself to go out, there and now.

Being a hero was tough, he knew that, but it couldn't have been like this!

* * *

><p>A few hours later, the trio of Amata, Mikono and Zessica was sent out by High Commander Fudo to help the new Elements get better acquainted with their new home city, Neo Kowloon. Along with that, he also went on about how they should start the whole "Social Observation Exercise" that would supposedly help the Elements reach Aquarion's powers without it going berserk, much like the incident nine years ago.<p>

In other words, they were going to check if people could get close without letting hormones take over while on a _date_, or some other lunacy like that. In fact, when he heard it, Amata was the first person to call it out.

"So you're saying that people _shouldn't_ build genuine relationships like love? How the hell is any of that right?!"

In response, Fudo brushed him off with a neatly-blocked punch as he said,

"But if one truly wishes to find love, then they mist first become masters of their own emotions, right Amata Sora?" with that ever-present, 'I know more than you do' smile.

On second thought, maybe he shouldn't have compared Fudo to DenLiner's Owner – at least the other one was more honest, and actually more likeable than the ever-enigmatic High Commander.

Moving on, though, the three teens were pretty much left to their own devices with only a flier of the "Date Plan" from Neo-DEAVA helping them. That, and some 'shock-bands' for the girls – Amata was the only one exempt from the whole thing ("Seriously? This is going too far!") But truth be told, Amata was still just plain nervous – why did he feel like he was being watched by somebody?

"OI! Earth to Rookie-kun!" Zessica's voice startled the new Kamen Rider back into conscious awareness of his surroundings. "Miko-chan and I were planning on going to the tower next. You coming or what?"

"Oh – yeah! I'm going, don't worry!" he supplied as he raced up to catch up with the two girls. Once he did, though, Zessica acted pretty boldly and latched onto his left arm, even brushing it into her cleavage!

"HEY!" Amata cried indignantly. "Th-that's not funny!"

"With the way you're acting, it is to me!" Zessica retorted, once again smiling like a Cheshire cat.

"Ah!" Mikono cried when she looked back at the two, not liking Zessica's approach at all. "Zessica-san! That's not right!"

"Aw~, are you jealous perhaps, Miko-nyan?" the more experienced Element suggested, holding tighter on Amata's arm.

"Mmm…." Mikono groaned in reply, before she took Amata's right hand in her left and started leading the both of them faster towards the tower. "And you were supposed to look after him, too!"

"Hey, come on, you two!" Amata said, trying to keep the two from fighting. "This is supposed to be a – a date, and that means no arguments!"

Strangely enough, both of the girls looked at him and said, in unison, "You're in no position to talk, mister!" After that, both of them then looked at each other, before sharing a smirk and a nod before Zessica continued. "It might not look like it, but I _am_ still watching you, Rookie-kun."

"It's not like I'm going anywhere else with you two trapping me like this." the redhead deadpanned at her.

Both of the girls smiled the Cheshire smile _again_, although the fact that even Mikono got in on it unnerved Amata a _lot_. "_Exactly._"

"But even so…" Zessica then paused, looking back at Mikono before she turned back to Amata. "Amata-kun," at this Amata was surprised – this was the first time she had actually used his name – "I know you probably take a lot of pride and responsibility in being a Kamen Rider, but even then, can you promise us that you won't take any risks, especially out here? Please?"

With a nudge, Mikono brought Amata's attention to herself as well. Even with a worried look in her eyes, she nodded with a small smile at him. Between that and Zessica's plea….well, it wasn't like he could refuse this kind of thing anyway, so Amata went along with it.

"I don't know if it'll get easier (which it probably won't), but yeah, I'll be careful."

"So you can be responsible after all." Mikono teased him, letting him go as she started speeding up a bit.

"Yeah!" Zessica added, even reaching up to pet Amata on the head! "Good boy!"

"AH-!" Amata started, only to be interrupted by the two girls laughing before they both raced on ahead. And although he was pretty indignant (but then again, wouldn't anybody be if they were being treated like a pet that did something good for their owner?), even he couldn't push the humor out of his voice. "Come and take that back, you two! That wasn't funny at all!"

And thus, the three managed to get their first assignment under way with a very good start – something that even Donar, who was secretly accompanying them via rooftop, couldn't break up.

"Maybe he'll be able to do the things I failed to do." he added wistfully to his thoughts. "I just hope he'll be able to keep that up…"

Thankfully, though, his presence wasn't unwelcome – to his right of vision, he saw a small group of men in pretty crisp suits subtly – but still suspiciously – making their way to the tower.

To where his students were!

"So much for a so-called 'peaceful' assignment," Donar sighed bitterly as he prepared the dart gun on his right robotic arm.

Whatever was happening, a new party was playing its first move.

And if it looked like Amata was part of their plans…then things were officially going to a new stage.

* * *

><p>After some more hijinks going up the tower – although the people there were kind enough to just simply ask the trio to keep things to respectable levels – Amata finally got to rest for a while alongside Mikono and Zessica, watching the setting sun while nursing a cool bottle of apple green tea. Resting a little more, he then raised his bottle up in a toast.<p>

"Well, I can definitely say that today was good ol' fashioned fun, right ladies?"

Joining him with their own drinks, the two girls chorused with an "Absolutely!"

"Cheers!" they all declared before they started drinking, with the girls idly leaning on Amata as he reclined against the wall of the tower. So far, the day-long date had been a fun experience – sight-seeing from the tower, dining they couldn't have afforded otherwise, and just being able to see the sunset like this….Amata couldn't tell if he was lucky for this moment or if he had finally found a break.

"This almost seems too good to last," he replied wistfully as he closed his eyes a bit.

"Hmph!" Zessica retorted as she playfully elbowed his side, Mikono not far behind. "Don't try spoiling it, Ama-kun!"

"Hai, hai!" he added automatically.

It would've been an otherwise nice wind-down if the door didn't let some new occupants in. Said occupants immediately got Amata on edge, tensing up and motioning to the girls to get behind him.

The first of the well-dressed….Amata could only guess that they were thugs, if only looking at their body language and all, greeted them by turning around a bit and offering a seemingly-harmless nod. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry, I…hope my companions and I weren't interrupting anything."

"Don't worry," Amata then stood up, the girls following but still behind him, "you weren't."

"Ah, that's certainly a relief." the first thug answered again. "I do hate causing unneeded delays in others' affairs. Terrible display of manners, if I do say so myself."

"Indeed…" Amata said in reply, edging towards the exit with Mikono and Zessica.

He would've gotten the other two to safety, too, if he didn't suddenly feel cold steel pressing against his head. "I think we've been fooling around enough." a gruff voice sounded behind him, leaving no room for argument. With no other options, Amata and the other two raised their hands in surrender, letting their assailant lead them back to the gang of thugs.

"Heh. Don't know what's got ol' fancy pants Witch-doctor on edge with this kid, but I can understand how Neo-DEAVA could screw us over if we're not careful." One of the thugs commented as they gave the Elements (well, one Element, one tentative Element, and an Element that happened to be a Kamen Rider) a once-over.

"Witch-doctor?" Amata said in confusion.

"Look, kid," the gunslinger, another person of Japanese descent in a black mercenary uniform, grunted as he kept his sizable pistol trailed on Amata. "If you really are that curious, all you need to know is that our boss is…well, let's just say his voodoo isn't something you'd want to cross."

"You don't say." Amata snarked, although he was also plenty worried. '_Actual voodoo…this doesn't sound good._'

"Hey, hey, don't go tryin' to test 'em, man!" the thugs protested at Amata's casual disbelief. "You don't wanna see him unleash his demons, man! He's for real!"

"I think that this is enough for now." the gunslinger finished for all of them. "Just to let you three know: We're not going to really hurt you…much, if you cooperate."

"You are NOT harming my students!"

With that, a flashbang grenade exploded near the rest of the criminal group, disorienting them enough for Amata to lead Mikono and Zessica back through the door and towards safety.

Soon enough, Dantes rushed up to greet them. "You kids go on ahead and get out of here! I'll apprehend them!"

"Got it!" Zessica answered as she helped Mikono race down the stairs close to the elevator. Amata, though, chose to stay behind.

"Sora, what are you doing?"

"Helping you stop these lunatics!" came the curt response.

"These are trained, professional criminals, kid! You're not ready for this!" Dantes argued.

Looking at him, Amata then smirked before he took out both of his Gaia Memories. "You're forgetting something, sensei – I'm not just an Element!"

As if answering to his will, a Double Driver manifested itself on Amata's waist.

"I'm also a Kamen Rider!"

"**CYCLONE!**" "**JOKER!**"

Setting the two Memories in place, Amata then assumed the classic Rider stance before saying the magic word:

"Henshin!"

"**CYCLONE! JOKER!**"

A strong wind suddenly blew, causing debris to go flying in all directions. The same debris spun around Amata before slamming onto his body and forming a suit. The suit of armor covered his entire body and looked streamlined. The left half was completely black with purple highlighting on the shoulders, wrists, ankles and chest. The right half was completely green, with yellow highlighting on the shoulders, chest, wrists and ankles as well. A silver stripe ran down the middle. The helmet had a pair of round red eyes and the sharp 'W' shaped antenna, which could be mistaken for a 'V', was set on his brow with a red stone under it. Hanging from the right side of his neck was a long silver scarf that was like a cape as it was blown by the wind.

"Now, count the number of your crimes!" Amata declared as he struck the Double pose.

Kamen Rider Double had made his debut on Vega.

"N-no way!" The thugs gasped at the sight of the Rider.

"He has those things too?"

"Where did he get a Driver?"

Quirking an eyebrow, Double then crossed his arms in annoyance. "Alright, you guys have a lot to answer and answer _for_. So come along quietly and-!"

A gunshot missed Double as he cartwheeled out of the way, coming to a stop as Dantes took up the other flank. The gunslinger could only sigh in anger through his nose.

"Damn – another Memory user? Not good for us!" He then gestured to the rest of his unit. "Men! Assume formation, now!"

Following his command, the thugs brought out their own Gaia Memories – sinister looking things surrounded by what looked like ribcages – before they plugged them into their bodies with mechanical cries of "**MASQUERADE!**" Accompanying them was the gunman plugging his own Memory into his palm, his giving a cry of "**TRIGGER!**"

Not long after, Double and Dantes found themselves facing a small platoon of the ribcage-masked Masquerade Dopants, alongside a Dopant mostly made of blue steel, appearing more robotic than organic. His head was pointed with a cycloptic face but the pupil on the front of the face was shaped like a targeting reticle for a gun. His right arm was made of a bronze material and instead of a hand, ended in a long-barreled rifle that looked like it was fit for a sniper.

Double immediately broke into a sweat – even if it wasn't a T2 Memory, that Trigger Dopant was still a force to be reckoned with! Best to take him out now before he gets a chance to attack!

"GO!" Double shouted to Dantes, who followed through with crackling fists as he smashed the Masquerades away. Double, meanwhile, launched a surging punch at the Trigger Dopant, who blocked his attack with his rifle arm. When the hit connected, both combatants rattled a bit because of the vibrating rifle.

Grunting, Double stated "You seem a lot….sturdier than your Memory implies!"

"Nobody knows everything at first glance, Rider!" the Dopant snarked back as he backhanded Double back with his rifle. To the Rider's surprise, though, the rifle then changed into an oversized pistol – with a bayonet blade covering the length of the barrel!

"WHOA!" Double exclaimed as the Trigger Dopant swung at him with the blade of his right hand. "I don't remember this about the Trigger Dopant!"

"Heh!" came said Dopant's reply. "So the Doc was right – you _do_ know more about the Memories than anybody else does, especially for an Element brat!"

"HEY!" Double shouted in turn. Ducking underneath a backhand swing, he then gave an uppercut to the Trigger Dopant, who went rolling back in an ukemi maneuver. Digging his fingers and bayonet blade into the ground, the blue Dopant then launched himself back into Double, grabbing him with both of his arms.

"Time for an exit, kid!" the Dopant sneered. And with that, he bulldozed through Donar and the remaining Masquerades and back outside the door, until both were jumping right off of the roof!

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-_whoa-waa-waa-wah!_" Double started crying in shock as he and the Trigger Dopant went careening down from the tower. Wriggling with all of his might, the Kamen Rider then broke free of the Trigger Dopant's hold before he sent a vicious roundhouse into his opponent's midsection, which sent the Dopant flying into a nearby building before he bounced off, continuing his fall. Summoning some wind around his body, Double then followed.

For the next few heart-stopping moments, Double and the Trigger Dopant kept exchanging blows, either sending a straight attack or weaving their way through one. A few lucky hits sent an opponent flying back into a building's wall, but even then they managed to kick back off of it and resume the fight.

It was on one such attack, though, that Double then changed strategy. As he impacted against another wall, he then dug his fingers in, using them as hooks as he slid down the building. Seeing this, the Trigger Dopant then changed his weapon again, this time going with an Armsel Striker. Taking aim, he then fired three rounds of his weapon at the sliding Rider. In turn, Double then let go before he started running down, making sure to dodge the explosions from the arm cannon.

"This is getting too dangerous!" Double noted as he saw more damage being dealt to the city's structures. Readying himself for a last attack, Double slotted his Joker Memory into the Maximum Drive slot on the right of his belt, before he took a flying leap at the Trigger Dopant's position.

"**Joker Extreme!**" he shouted as he neared the Dopant. To the latter's surprise, though, Double then turned in midair before he sent his Cyclone half spinning into a butterfly kick, with the Joker half turning in a heel drop kick. To accentuate this, both halves went with "**Spiral Cutting!**" before their feet met the Trigger Dopant's body. The result: the blue Dopant was sent plummeting down like a missile, raising a plume of debris before he exploded in a blaze of fire.

The two halves of Double then realigned themselves before the armor faded away, leaving a winded Amata Sora in Double's place. As he walked over to the crater made by his fight, Dantes and the girls finally caught up to him.

"Sora!" Dantes shouted as he raced towards the gunman's prone form. "Stand back – I'll apprehend him!"

"Wait!" Amata protested. "I have to make sure that his Gaia Memory was-!"

"Oh don't you worry your pretty li'l heads, sirs and ladies!" a smooth, New Orleans voice suddenly appeared. All of the Neo-DEAVA members then stepped back as a giant playing card – this one decorated with the Joker of Death – spun into existence before it came near the gunman, continuing to spin until it revealed a familiar man to Amata.

Tall and very slender, mustached, gap in his front teeth, purple eyes, black jacket, purple shirt that showed his bellybutton, tall black top hat with a skull and the crossbones up front and the purple thin feather on top, cane – combined with the faux affable expression on his face, Amata couldn't help but voice his surprise.

"Dr. _**FACILIER?!**_"

"Aaaaww!" the 'good' doctor mocking cooed, "It looks like my little old reputation precedes me, even across worlds." He then dropped any pretensions of being nice, now bearing a full evil grin. "But of course, you _do_ realize what this means for you, right sonny?"

"Amata-kun – you _know_ this guy?" Zessica asked him as she and Mikono huddled closer, choosing to stick with Amata as he stared the new player down.

"I'd be surprised if people didn't know about him at this point in time!" Amata replied. "Nobody could forget the Shadow Man of New Orleans!"

"Oh?" the witch-doctor quirked his head at the response. "But then again, little man, would people really know that much about the, eh…." he then spread his arms before spinning his hands around, "greater picture at hand?"

"What greater picture?" Amata demanded as he prepared his Driver again.

"Well…." Facilier drawled as he picked up the gunman and set him on his shoulder, "let me put it this way:" he paused, then sent a card flying towards Amata, who caught it in his fingers, "the Keyblades are coming on home!" With a demented cackle, Facilier and the gunman vanished in another card, spinning back to where they held their forces.

Amata then looked at the card for a moment, before crushing it in his hands. Turning around, he then marched on towards the docks, waiting for transportation back to the Academy. Behind him, Mikono and Zessica looked at him in worry.

Dantes saw the boy's body language and made a decision. Striding up right to him, he then asked of him, "If you may, Mr. Sora, would you discuss what Facilier left you?"

"…"Amata was silent for a few moments before he responded. "We're going to need to make a plan with Commander Fudo. The Chairman, too, if possible."

"Both of Neo-DEAVA's leaders? But why?"

"Because we've more than likely officially entered a war." Amata grimly responded, still gripping the card like a vice.

The card itself held the image of Facilier's organization, as best as it could be represented:

Wicked claws holding an upside down, splintered heart, all of this could only mean one thing:

The Seeker of Darkness was making his return.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Whoo! This was a doozy to think up! And, well, I'm sorry if I couldn't keep my end of the deal! But don't worry, readers! I'm coming back, and that's a promise! **

**So, read and review!**


	5. The I Begins, part 1

_Chapter 5: The I Begins/Strange Puppets Appear_

_Author's note: Welp, I'm officially making my comeback! And hopefully, this'll be the start of new heights for the world of Aquarion! But on the other hand….I'm definitely sorry for the long wait! High school has been crazy, _especially_ with the Senior year coming to a close…._

_Anyways, give your best about this chapter, my fellows!_

* * *

><p>With a spin of the familiar card, Dr. Facilier and his cohort (well, surviving one – those old Masquerade Memories never did change the users back) appeared back in their safehouse, a well-stocked small base for their operations in this universe.<p>

It was a stroke of luck that they managed to get here first, actually. Those lunatics in the other divisions of the Organization would've already been raising Hell on both of these planets, wasting resources in a war that they could've started, and _then_ won, at a later date. How and why they ended up being there to begin with, Facilier would never know – not that he could claim to be better, really.

Facilier knew he was nothing but a slimy, cheating bastard – in a few senses of the word, anyway. Then again, with so many supernatural forces working against each other just for the sake of giving existence meaning (read: making things fun), the only way to go would be to make the best deals with the most powerful 'friends' from the darker side of reality. Sure, the whole thing could bite you back in the ass if you weren't careful, but that was the main rule of the universe – equal risks give equal consequences.

Fortunately, though, Facilier's operations in New Orleans managed to draw the attention of an entity even more powerful – and _definitely_ more ambitious, malevolent, and damn smart – than the _loa_ of his world. And his proposal was something that couldn't be refused – new sets of spells, greater physical capabilities, even the chance to see the creation of a new world!

Facilier was, if anything, a man that wouldn't throw opportunity away – and this was the biggest one in history! So of course, he made the final plunge and joined this mysterious "Seeker of the Kingdom" and his organization, even if it meant never coming back to his native New Orleans….as a human, that is.

Nodding to more of the Masquerade users, Facilier let them take the Trigger Memory user back to the medical bay. Assets were assets, after all, and to be fair, the man _did_ do damn well to get where he was before – weapons experts weren't common, after all, especially of his caliber.

With a sharp turn, Facilier made to his quarters – a recreation of his original Voodoo Emporium back in New Orleans, if only to be a little sentimental. Situating himself on his favorite chair, he then arranged a few of his signature tarot cards before he spun them into a portal outlined in blue – an easy way for magic-users of the Organization to communicate with the rest of their fellows, even the Superior himself. Of course, now wasn't a time to be distracted – on to the needed report, as per procedure.

"Is everything going well on your end, Facilier?" the voice of the Superior greeted him from his end of the line.

"Just about as well as you predicted, my good man – which is to say, all but our Trigger finger have been wiped out." Facilier casually replied, slouching in his chair while he fanned out four cards in particular.

"So the new Double has already shown progress in his evolution, yes?"

"Along with that stupid game-breaking Machine Angel of his…."Facilier added, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Are you _honestly_ that certain that we'll be able to get _anything_ from that kid as long as he has that Giant on a leash?"

"His having the Titan of Genesis on his side is _exactly_ what makes him a greater advantage to our cause," the Superior rebutted. "With the might of the Gaia Memories already synchronized with Solar Wing, both of the two powers could become great enough to fulfill one of the Great Trinity."

"And thus open up the way to the remade Keyblade War," Facilier continued the line of thought. "But still…are you sure that this whole thing can go on without a hitch? Ol' pretty-boy Shadow Angel might not take too kindly to his…."

"He will be dealt with in due time," the Superior remarked. "On that note, I think it might be best to call on the rest of our forces."

Facilier blinked in surprise, and then grinned maliciously. "So you mean….?"

"Indeed – the race of the Gaia Memories officially commences."

* * *

><p>The return trip to Neo-DEAVA was a rather solemn affair. The fact that a new group of Gaia Memory users was now active weighed heavily on Amata's mind, and his apprehension was palpable. Dantes looked on in worry – maybe the parallels he made between himself and Amata were an understatement of the real tensions on the younger man's person.<p>

Having to deal with an alien invasion was one thing – dealing with an entire organization of genocidal, darwinistic lunatics, alone, was another matter altogether.

Unfortunately, Dantes simply wasn't qualified to help Amata as a teacher should – and he knew it, which only made him all the angrier at himself.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself even, "of all the times for me to actually be a teacher -!"

He would've continued his self-depreciative episode if he didn't notice Mikono and Zessica sharing a nod before they went on to Amata's position. Seeing the two girls tap on Amata's shoulder before they started talking with him, Dantes simply smirked before he turned away.

All at once, he felt shame, joy, and pride – the former for failing as a teacher in supporting his students (in truth, he honestly didn't care about gender – all of the Elements were still the wards of Neo-DEAVA, and thus the responsibility of the teachers as a whole), and the latter at seeing that already the newer generation was taking steps in helping one another and other people.

Moving on to the other side of the ferry, Dantes let his mind wander back to the first question asked of him when he chose to become an Element – 'Would it really be worth it?' Looking at the trio, he gave his newest answer:

Damned straight it was worth it.

(Line Break)

"Ah, Sora-san, Suzushiro-chan, Wong-chan. Professor Dantes." Zen greeted them all as they made into the bridge room. "How did the assignment go?"

"Aside from meeting Gaia Memory-using aggressors and pretty much confirming that there'll be a war, pretty close to what the exercise was trying to accomplish, actually!" Amata supplied mockingly. Mikono followed in kind with a scolding elbow to his arm.

Zen stopped smiling and raised both eyebrows in alarm before he continued. "Then enlighten us with a situation report." he ordered, neutral but more serious.

"Allow me, High Commander Fudo." Dantes interjected. "Given what transpired, I believe that it's best for everyone that Sora-san get some rest for the meantime." Looking at the Element in question, Dantes's expression softened before he said "Go ahead, Sora-san. You've more than earned it with your actions today."

Blinking in surprise, Amata shook his head clear and saluted with his right hand across his heart. "Yessir!" He then made his way out of the bridge room.

"Now hold on a second, Amata!" Zessica yelled as she raced up to him, with Mikono following at a more sedate pace. "Do you even know where to go?"

Silence. Then….

"Oh yeah!" Amata remembered, pounding the bottom of his right fist into his other palm. "That's what I forgot – where _am_ I staying?"

It spoke a lot about Zen's ability to compose himself that only he remained standing – everyone else flinched either forward or back before they got themselves back upright. Dantes took action to erase the awkwardness by asking Zen just that.

"With that in mind, where exactly _is_ Sora-san supposed to stay in the Academy?"

Taking a Joker card out of seemingly nowhere, Fudo then flicked it at Amata before he responded. "With how things are proceeding, I believe it prudent to let Sora-kun get his own lodgings separate from either of the dorms – perhaps even a base of operations as part of the elite of the Intelligence division?"

"_What?_" everyone exclaimed, with Amata barely catching the Joker card as he joined in.

"I see no reason to deny this," Fudo argued, "seeing that Sora-san already displays great capability as a combatant and a detective."

"How do you figure?" Amata asked skeptically.

"You were able to keep your head in the midst of being held hostage, and show strong aptitude for gathering information and being able to safeguard it as well as play it at the right moment." Smiling that awful 'know-more-than-you' smile, Fudo then added "Simply put, you already do well to live up to the title of a Kamen Rider, as well as a detective!"

Bashful, Amata argued with "W-well, I don't really think that I – WAIT A MOMENT!" he shouted as he processed the last part of Fudo's sentence. "How do you know about Gaia Memory Riders being (mostly) detectives? I've never said anything more back then!" he stated while pointing a finger at Fudo.

Again bearing a Cheshire cat grin, Fudo supplied him with "May I remind you of what you said in your first battle, Sora-san? '_Seeking the truth_', as you put it?" With a flourish, Fudo then appeared right next to Amata- much to the boy's shock. "I simply filled in the lines, and acted upon what you seemed to desire – and, being a detective under Neo-DEAVA's employ gives you considerable authority and flexibility."

"-!" Amata almost got to arguing with Fudo, only to stop right in his tracks. Relenting, he just said "Good point. ….Sorry about my outburst."

"Ah, but it merely shows acknowledgement on your part that some emotions are better disposed when vented." Fudo replied. "Nothing is ever truly meant to be contained, after all – compelled and guided, yes, but not contained."

"The whole 'Harmony vs. Discipline' argument, eh?" Amata asked with a raised eyebrow. "Eh…nice in principle, but kinda hard to really practice."

"But hardships are _exactly_ the point." Fudo argued, again smiling. "Peace can only be achieved when opposing forces learn to coexist with and understand one another. Such is the way of life!" he finished with a flourish.

Amata could only roll his eyes. _'If only…'_

"But enough of that!" Fudo started again, now going into official business. "If you may follow me, Sora-sa- no, I suppose it would be best to call you Captain of Intelligence, now wouldn't it?" he added rather affably. "For procedural purposes, your new quarters will be located not far from the Headmaster's building, actually."

"Seriously?" Amata exclaimed incredulously, even as he went along with the High Commander. "You honestly have enough faith in me to be a trusted subordinate to the top brass?"

"Well…" Fudo drawled out, "Perhaps that _is_ overestimating you, if Suzushiro-san's reactions to your….escapade a while ago indicate anything." Chuckling at Amata's groans and the girls' own scolding amusement, he continued, "Therefore, I believe that it would be best if she shared Wong-san's position as a guide – making her position of, ah, 'mother hen' official."

Amata was about to squawk in outrage and embarrassment (although, he noted, he really wouldn't mind being Mikono's subordinate in….a more risqué way) when Mikono elbowed him hard, smiling a little too sweetly and saying "That'll be a perfect arrangement, High Commander Fudo-san! Now if you'll excuse Amata-kun and I…" before she took an iron grip on the boy's arm, which he tried valiantly to break as she started going on to the Headmaster's building. All at the same time, and much to everyone else's amusement, Amata pleaded with Mikono to let go and stop being so uptight – to which Mikono silenced him with a glare that spoke _'Don't even think about it, mister!'_ in spades.

Absently, Dantes commented "Maybe he and I actually do have more in common than I thought…."

To this, Fudo then added his own thoughts, "Oh? Empathizing with a student being forced to follow a girl around on a proverbial leash? Perhaps you've also shared a similar dilemma in your…ah, never mind."

"No, no," Dantes argued, "I'll be honest – I did get whipped by my girlfriend, I'll admit that. But I know my limits and problems, and I can accept that." With a sigh, he then commented "But I can't say that I have the same confidence in Sora."

"Reminds you of your younger says, then?"

"Aside from the whole Rider business and having more complications in his life? …..Yes, he reminds me a little too much of myself."

"Then perhaps Suomi-sensei would be happy to help with this? You do seem to take a fancy with here." Fudo chuckled good-naturedly.

"Sh-she and I only have a professional relationship! Nothing more, and nothing so damaging to her honor!" Dantes hastily denied.

"OOooh~, Dantes-sensei!" Zessica teased, even as she started walking away. "I never knew you entertained such thoughts about Suomi-sensei! Although…actually, she might not feel all that bad about it anyway!" she laughed.

With Dantes wisely choosing to kill the conversation then and there, Fudo then started making his way to his own room – or, more specifically, his own part of the main Administration building.

"Time to see how well you grow this time, Amata Sora….*sigh*" With a huff, Fudo then let his façade of stoic cheer slip for a bit.

For all of his good intentions and intellect, Amata Sora still had a _lot_ to learn – or rather, really _understand_.

* * *

><p>"Oww!" Amata complained even as he rotated his arm once he got out of Mikono's hold. "You could've just asked me to follow, Mikono-san!" For such a relatively petite – but still healthy – girl, she certainly had a strong grip.<p>

But even so, Amata was internally laughing. Already, Mikono was proving herself a far better individual than she claimed to be – leagues better than him, actually. '_Useless, my ass! You'd give Silvia a run for her money any day!_'

"Then how exactly would I have been sure that you made good to go and get some rest as High Commander Fudo said? _Hmm?_" she asked him reprehensively.

"Do I honestly look stupid enough to make things worse for myself?" Amata asked, though he couldn't resist letting a laugh crack his face into a grin.

In response, Mikono adopted an unamused glare that knocked Amata's grin right off. However, with a sigh, she simply took Amata back to her before she secured her arm around his whole person. "Maybe it's for the best that I'm taking over Zessica-chan's duty as your caretaker. I think I'm doing much better in keeping you on a leash."

"That said," she then looked Amata in the eye – to which he immediately flinched – "You and I are going to have a talk once we get into the Headmaster's space. Understood?"

Her face left no room for argument. With a sigh of resignation, Amata simply leaned back and rearranged Mikono's arm so that she instead held onto his hand.

With no further words, the two made their way forward to what could only be called – for all intents and purposes – their new home.

And watching it all, unbeknownst to anyone, were two spiritual entities – one, a redhead not unlike Kagura, except he had orange hair like Amata's and was clad in mainly green clothes, and the other, a blonde girl in a primarily pink outfit. Although he himself wasn't truly aware of it, Amata had just attracted the attention of two of the past generation of Aquarion's pilots - Apollo and Silvia de Alisia.

"Heh," Apollo chuckled, "for a hotheaded otaku, the guy's been doing well for himself!" He leaned back even as Silvia let loose an explosive sigh.

"Would you honestly call crashing back-first into the ground with no regards to his own well-being 'doing well'? Even you had more sense than that most of the time, Apollo!" Silvia argued, throwing her arm toward Amata's position.

"But that's why we had you there for all of us back at DEAVA, Silvia!" Apollo laughed before he caught Silvia in a hug, her scream of indignation turning into a laugh as Apollo spun around with her in his arms. Taking a moment, he then nuzzled into Silvia, letting himself take a more sober tone. "You helped everyone out and got them to understand each other better. You even helped us make Rena part of our family, even with all that's happened." Kissing Silvia's forehead – much to her equal indignation, pleasure, and embarrassment – Apollo concluded with "You've already done so much for all of us. And now…"

"And now, we help _them_ get their happy ending." Silvia said as she looked back at Amata and Mikono, her back facing Apollo in his embrace. "But still, don't you think all of those anime and everything else in his head will hurt in the future? With Aquarion's powers, they could end up bleeding through!"

"We'll be there to help them right out if that happens," Apollo waved casually. "Besides…" he then looked at Silvia again, "all of those memories of his are too precious to take away. And I think he knows that too."

"Yeah," Silvia nodded, "they are too precious to mess around with. But why wouldn't they be?" She looked at Amata in particular, and the other connections that he unknowingly had. "People need heroes to learn from – only through them can they make things better for themselves and the people next in line. Sure, there are always plenty of problems, but they can still be fixed."

"Definitely." Apollo agreed. "You know what? I don't think Amata's gonna appreciate us dropping subtle hints about us here and there for him to work out – he'd probably already go nuts!"

Laughing a little bit, Silvia started leading Apollo towards their new selves. "Yeah – the best thing to do is meet him face-to-face, as we should! The past must always give its wisdom to the future, after all!"

"Lead the way, then!"

And with that, the two spirits opted to take a proactive role in helping the new Rider complete his new mission – finally putting the story of Aquarion to a close.

* * *

><p>With another sigh, Amata fell back onto his new bed in the room he had gained as Captain of Intelligence. Luckily enough and equally surprisingly, the Headmaster's Building was actually a small, but lavish, mansion meant to hold – well, just about <em>any<em> event, really. And owning a fancy-pants mansion meant having damned comfortable rooms for guests/long-term residents. All in all, the whole place was basically theirs to call home!

Whoever this Headmaster and Chairman was, Amata had to give them something nice as a gift – they certainly knew how to be a good host!

But moving on from that, Mikono certainly lived up to her word; once the two had officially claimed their beds (which happened to be part of the same room), she took Amata by the hand and unceremoniously pushed him into a sitting position. Not long after, she took a seat to his left, looking at him with a stern glare. ….Yeah, she definitely knew how to cow somebody into submission. Maybe this was just something that came up in exceptional circumstances? Amata never did try to find out if something like this could happen in real life.

"Amata-kun," the violet-haired teen girl called out levelly. "With all that's happened, I think it's time that you started being honest with me."

"Wha-?" he started in reply. "Err…what do you mean, exactly, Mikono-san?"

"You're still hiding some things from everyone, aren't you?"

At this, Amata began to panic a little. Of all the times for things to go downhill…!

Hoping to lie but still satisfy her curiosity, Amata stated "Nope! Nothing's wrong here, I've already said everything I know!"

Pouting rather effectively (showing steel in her eyes as she narrowed them while puffing her cheeks a bit), Mikono stared him down before she called him out on his bluff. "I refuse to believe in such a blatant lie!"

"L-l-lie?" Amata said panicking. "Bu-bu-but I never said anything more than what I honestly know! Really!"

"_Don't you even_ _**think**_ _about trying to keep this up, mister!_" Mikono yelled at last, finally losing patience with Amata's bluff. "Either you tell me the whole truth, or so help me, I will expose you to the rest of Neo-DEAVA and kick your ass _**all at the same time!**_" she roared, knocking Amata so far back with the sheer force of her voice that he ended up being sent sprawling onto the bedroom's floor. At this point, he chose to stick very closely to its surface – to move now would be to invite even greater slaughter on his person! And…well…he had to kick himself on general principle.

Only an absolute idiot would've been able to pull something like this off (combining exceptional recklessness, really bad luck, volatile tempers and really close people), and yet _he_ did it!

….Then again, maybe it really was just plain old rotten luck. It wasn't like he could've done anything different at all of those times! He did what he had to! ….And the only problem was getting Mikono and the others to understand that. Well, in hindsight, this sort of thing would've come up sooner or later. Might as well nip it in the bud.

Of course, while Amata wildly rushed about mentally, his body had yet to catch up. Thus, all he could do was intelligently say "…..okay?"

Once he did so, Mikono snapped out of her trance, blinking at Amata sprawled about. When she processed what he had said to her little…incident, the corners of her mouth started twitching upwards. To add to her crumbling self-control, she started shaking with her repressed laughter. Of course, to Amata, the poor girl looked like she was having a mental meltdown! He had to do something – the last thing he wanted to do was break someone's sanity!

Then Mikono pretty much sent him bowling over backwards again with – with a giggle. Then, to his further confusion and slight terror, she then escalated into full-blown laughter, collapsing onto the bed. She even started kicking her feet!

…Well, one thing was for certain: If he was going to retreat, now was the time! He started edging towards the exit, hopefully not drawing Mikono's attention.

Unfortunately, he still got her attention. "W-wait, Amata-kun!" she struggled to say between her laughs. "J-just…just - ha-ha! - wait! We-we're not done….yet!" With her energy spent, she finally laid fully on the bed. Knowing better than to cross her again, Amata complied and sat down beside her.

Silence reigned between the two until Amata spoke up. "So….you feeling better now?"

"Mmmm." came Mikono's lazy reply.

"….Any reason for the breakdown?" Amata asked hesitantly.

"….." was Mikono's first response. "Maybe I know why Cayenne-niisan acted like he did with me. All he wanted was me to be safe because he cared about me…..and, well, it's actually kinda fun bossing people around!" she added with a grin that did no favors for Amata's nerves.

"….So what does that mean now?" Amata nearly squeaked his question out.

"It means…." Mikono then looked at him again, though with a little more resigned irritation in her eyes, "that I have plenty to work through when it comes to you, Amata-kun."

"D-do you really have to put it like that?" the boy whined.

"Indeed I do."

"…..haaaah! Fine then, you win!" And with that, Amata also collapsed onto the bed, lying next to Mikono. However, Amata took a long while to compose his thoughts.

How he could word the truth in a way that could make sense and not make him look like a lunatic? Hell, how could he possibly tell the truth either way? There was no guarantee that the truth would make things easier or better for anyone, and if anybody else could become a target…..Amata started tearing at his scalp in anger. There was no conceivable way to go about this!

Before he could get more self-destructive, though, he felt softer hands grasp his own. To his surprise, Mikono was gently holding his hands away from his head, giving him a worried, but caring smile before she calmed him down. "Amata-kun, it's okay. If it's too hard to explain, then just say it as you want to."

Taking time to hold his hands close to her heart, Mikono continued talking. "All I want is for you to be honest, Amata-kun. You can trust me, because I'll always be honest with you. Okay?"

With her caring smile, Amata relented. "It…it's still not easy, Mikono-san!"

"Just 'Mikono' will be okay."

"Umm…anyways, I understand that you – wait." Amata turned to her fully. "How did you know I was hiding anything anyway? It's not like I suggested something like that."

"No, Amata-kun." Mikono refuted him, "you _did_ suggest it – even if you didn't say anything, your heart and soul did."

"Huh?" Amata was nonplused.

"When we were in Aquarion," she clarified, "when you cancelled your…transformation, actually, I felt it: your fear, your tension, everything you felt at the time and long before that, too…whether you wanted to fight it or no, I felt the connection."

In a rather bold move for her, Mikono placed her forehead on Amata's, much to his flustering as he tried to move away. But her hands held his in a firm, but concerned, grip as she started speaking again. "Amata-kun, you don't have to keep everything to yourself. Even if the others don't really trust you yet, you'll always have me to stand alongside you. So please…" she then backed away, giving the best smile she had given yet, "tell me everything."

Astounded by how heartfelt and honest Mikono was, Amata had no other choice but to relent. And – though it was a foolish move, in his opinion, he told her everything: How the Gaia Memories, Dr. Facilier, and even Aquarion were just fictional constructs from his universe, how he ended up on Vega, the real story of 12000 years ago, even about himself. And through it all, Mikono sat there, patiently listening.

Sometime later, Amata had finished bearing the truth out to Mikono. Anticipating a negative reaction, Amata made to leave Mikono alone in the room. "See you later then, Mikono."

But Mikono stopped him, prompting him to turn around. Instead of an angry expression, though, she actually looked glad. "Eh?" was Amata's curt question at this.

"Did that really feel so hard to let out, Amata-kun?"

"Well…" a pause, "Not really."

She nodded. "Good. Like I said before, you can always be honest with me." She hugged him one more time. "And if we work through this, everything will work out. That's a promise."

The new Kamen Rider grinned a little bit before he returned the hug. "Yeah."

Mikono then let go before she made her way out of the room. Before she did, though, she actually walked up to Amata and planted a kiss on his forehead!

"Have some good dreams, okay Amata?" she told him as she left the room.

Amata, on the other hand, was stock-still. Idly touching the spot Mikono had kissed, he then fully realized what had happened. With that on his mind, he did the rational thing:

He fainted onto the bed, sighing happily as he let himself drift to sleep. His last thoughts as he fell to Morpheus were this:

'_Today was_ sooooo _worth it!_'

* * *

><p>MIX was definitely <em>not<em> having a good day.

Really, though, everything started with that boy defiling Aquaria with his powers, Gaia whatevers or something. Thanks to him, the whole status quo of the Holy Angel Academy was undergoing a massive restructuring! Nothing was truly sacred anymore! The whole thing was nothing but a filthy mess!

She also had to deal with a constantly nagging voice inside her head that argued that something like this was probably for the best, seeing at how poor the original Aquaria teams fared in comparison to Double.

Whatever the reasons, though, MIX still had to oppose this whole fiasco on general principle! That Amata Sora character was still a wild card in the grand scheme of things, and there was no guarantee that his information was everything the situation was about. And furthermore, he had broken the taboo of Cross-Gender Gattai! Her blood boiled more at the thought.

"That stupid little upstart," MIX muttered as she walked around her dorm room, much to the annoyance of her other roommate, Zessica. "He has some nerve challenging the rules of Neo-DEAVA!"

"In his defense, he didn't know something like that would happen." Zessica rebutted, ticked off a little bit at how MIX looked at Amata unfavorably. "And it's not like he's that bad of a person – he's already given as much information as he can, and he really is a genuinely nice guy! Have a heart and be nice to him, MIX-chan!"

"I will _not!_" MIX shouted back. "He is probably the filthiest of all the males, particularly because of those Gaia Memories of his! Tapping into the consciousness of the planet…that's like you're playing around with the powers of God!"

"And we're not doing the same when we're piloting Aquarion?" Zessica snarked, raising an eyebrow at MIX's rather hypocritical logic.

"We were already trained and confirmed to be pilots and operatives of Neo-DEAVA. That fool is just some random civilian with little to no background info gallivanting off with the most legendary figure of all time!" MIX debated angrily. "He cannot be trusted!"

"He _can_ be trusted!" Zessica snapped, causing MIX to look at her in surprise. This was the first time she had seen Zessica so angry – and passionate in defending someone else. "Amata-kun might be a cocky little kid that's trying too hard to live up to his new titles, but the effort he gives and the intentions he has are real deals! We can have faith in him!"

"Zessica-san…." MIX called her name in shock.

"You know, maybe it _is_ a good thing we all have Amata-kun now!" Zessica stated firmly. "Things are getting more serious now, and we all have to pitch in and do our part! He's already facing things as maturely and as responsibly as he's able to, so we have to catch up! Face it, MIX! It's time to grow up!"

"B-b-but…" MIX tried to make an argument, but she faltered in the face of Zessica's fiery determination and righteous anger.

"No, no buts, MIX-chan! Amata-kun deserves a lot more respect from us for all he's done and what he's willing to try! He…" she stopped for a little, "he really is too much of a nice guy to leave alone." She sighed at her thoughts. "Maybe Miko-chan was right to be such a worrywart – Amata-kun would probably walk into a minefield if somebody doesn't stop him."

Hearing this, MIX tried to salvage her pride by digging at Amata's faults. "Hah! If that fool actively seeks to destroy himself, regardless of reasons and consequences, then let him burn! That's what he wants, isn't it?"

A very bad choice of words, she soon realized, as Zessica stopped moving, woodenly looking up at MIX. When her eyes met the other girl's at last, though, MIX had to do everything she could to stop herself from fainting on the spot – Zessica's glare was _that_ full of indignation and rage.

"You take that back about him, you brat." Zessica growled at MIX. "Amata-kun is _not_ trying to get himself killed; he's acting to make sure that nobody else does, or has to! Hell, the only reason he's putting himself on the line so often is because that's what he is – a stupid-assed bleeding heart that takes way too closely to the superhero thing to be careful!" at this, she started breaking into small sobs. "God _dammit_, he _is_ going to get himself killed!"

"Zessica-san…." MIX muttered in worry. If her sometimes-friend felt so much about this Amata person….then again, maybe Zessica was right. For all intents and purposes, Amata had little to no real experience (or so it seemed, for now) in combat, yet he wholeheartedly engaged the Abductor commander solely because of the fact that it was an active threat to everybody in Neo-Venice at the time. In spite of the odds, Amata chose to act both on what he could make of the situation and his own code of honor.

Simply put, what took professionally-trained soldiers to accomplish was surpassed by a boy – no, a young man who simply did what he was _willing_ to do. …Not many could boast of doing the same thing, MIX herself being one of those that couldn't.

And in the grand scheme of things, maybe this was for the best – they had a new, obviously powerful ally on their side, the mysteries of the Abductors was being unraveled, and…well, Zessica herself seemed to be opening up a lot, too. MIX couldn't even remember the last time her acquaintance acted so genuinely passionate – that last relationship ended on a rather sour note.

So, finally getting herself straightened out, MIX then placed her hands on Zessica's shoulders. "Zessica-san, I think I can understand where you're going with this. And, for all it's worth, you might be right – Amata does seem like a truly altruistic person, a rarity in any case. And, like you said, if he's going to do so much for us, the right thing to do is to help pick up the slack and fight alongside him. Nobody ever said superheroes had to go without their own – and, well, I'll give him a chance if you could like him so much."

Zessica, for her efforts, calmed down as she started drooping in place, ultimately resting on MIX's shoulder. In response, MIX moved her arms to hold Zessica in a tender hug. "Thanks for understanding, MIX-chan."

"Don't worry." MIX replied. "I'd give the benefit of the doubt to anybody that would be willing to fight for this world so readily. And…well, I can kinda see why you like him so much!" She finished with a mischievous grin.

Zessica's eyes snapped wide open once she processed what MIX just said. Spluttering, she scrambled away as she tried to deny MIX's claim. "A-Amata-kun is just a friend! Nothing more, nothing less andIthinkMikono-chan'salreadypeggedhimasherhenpeck edboyfriendanyway!" she cried out, accelerating her speech as she became more flustered.

"Denial's not just a river anymore~" MIX called out as she leapt off of the bed, glad that she managed to calm her friend down and get her spirits back up again – and if it meant getting a rise out of her by being a wiseass, then so be it. Mopey Zessica was much more to deal with than Peppy, Teasing Zessica.

And with an ensuing pillow fight that thankfully only stayed with MIX and Zessica, another day for the Elements of Neo-DEAVA came to a peaceful dénouement.

Or at least, for them…..

* * *

><p>Not too far from an asteroid belt situated well above Vega's atmosphere, one of Altair's Gniss units – specifically, a stockier one with a left eye-piece made of three revolving lenses, not unlike those for snipers, clad in mostly yellow and brown military tones - was standing on the bottom of one of said asteroids, directing his AI forces to mobilize. For the time being, this would be another field examination of the Machine Angel before any further strategy could be made – all of it being remotely operated by the last son of Altair, Jin Muso, a rather wiry fellow, with grey eyes and a greenish mop of hair that sometimes covered his eyes when he needed that element.<p>

For the time being, though, Jin was running maintenance on his AI units, checking for any deficiencies before he went off to battle. 'So far, so good – everything's in order, then!'

Unbeknownst to him, though, a relatively small robot of sinister make and origin – a spindly creature that seemed more like a metal insectoids with a humanoid gait – made its way to the first of Jin's many Radius Gniss models. With a low, but still malevolent, chuckle, the mechanical menace crawled up to the behemoth mech before it made its move.

"Time for the party now!" it chuckled evilly as it took a Gaia Memory in hand and plugged it in. Immediately, warning signs blared across the Radius Gniss and the rest of the automated Abductor platoon, all of them short-circuiting before the change overtook each of them. And the last thing Jin Muso heard as he lost the connection was this phrase:

"**SHINIGAMI HAKASE!**"

* * *

><p>Author's Note: And here it is, after pretty much two weeks! (Not that Driving school helped any…)<p>

As for you readers, please accept my humblest apologies! It's been hard trying to get the flow of the story again, and my muses have taken extended (mis)adventures with various fictional works! SO again, I'm sorry!

But anyways, please do feel free to give your critiques! Oh, and spread word of mouth to others, by the way! (Sweats)


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